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BEYOND THE VAIL 



THIS PUBLICATION IS A SEQUEL TO 
"RENDING THE VAIL.'* 



Beisg a Compilation, with Notes and Explanations, 

BY 
JABBZ HUNT NIXON, 

OF 

Narrations and Illustrations of Spirit Experiences, 
Spoken, Written and Made by 

FULL-FORM VISIBLE MATERIALIZATIONS; 



Setting up a Scientific and Personal 
Verification of 



"What We Shall Be," 

AND OF 

A Code of Ethics, ( 



Requisite to the Most Speedy Realization of the Highest and 
Purest Felicity Attainable in the Future Life. 



published by 

hudson-klmberly publishing company, 

Kansas City, Mo. 

—1901— 



THE UBHARY OF 
0ONGKES8, 

Two CoftM R6C6IVEB 

JAN. 18 1902 

OWYWOHT BNTBY 

0LAS8 ou XXa No. 
OOPY B. 






*\ 



Copyright 1901 by 

JABEZ HUNT NIXON, 

Spring Hill, Kas., U. S. A. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



INTRODUCTION. 

This publication being a sequel to "Rending the Vail," it 
may be that some readers would have a better basis of com- 
prehending the works were some statements explanatory pre- 
sented here. Hence, 

First. As to abbreviations and references: 

R. V. means the publication entitled "Rending the Vail." 
B. V. means the publication entitled "Beyond the Vail." 

The subject-matter of both publications is separated into 
general divisions as paragraphs, and these into subdivisions or 
sections, as each case seemed to require. The general divisions 
are numbered consecutively from 1 at the beginning of the 
general text of each publication to the close thereof; and the 
subdivisions of the paragraphs are designated by letters of the 
alphabet. 

The figures denoting the respective numbers of the general 
divisions and the letters marking the subdivisions are placed 
in the left margin at the beginning of the divisions and sub- 
divisions which the number or letter is intended to designate. 

References to paragraphs are designated by the number 
referred to being placed in parentheses ( — ) immediately to the 
right of the clause or sentence desiring the reference. Thus: 
(R. V., 1344) signifies, See "Rending the Vail" at number or 
paragraph 1344. 

This expression, (R. V., 1350-1353), means, See "Rending the 
Vail," at paragraphs 1350, 1351, 1352, and 1353, inclusive. 

If the reference be in this book thus: (1093), the significa- 
tion is, See "Beyond the Vail," at paragraph 1093. 

If the reference be thus : (R. V., 212 d), the meaning is, See 
"Rending the Vail," paragraph 212, subdivision (d). 

If thus: (R. V., 212 d-g), the meaning is, See "Rending the 
Vail," paragraph 212, subdivisions (djj (e), (/), and (g). If the 
reader follow this reference, he will find how fear sometimes 
causes disease, even small-pox. 

If a reference be written in this book thus : (1166), it means, 
See paragraph 1166 of this book; and, looking there, the reader 
will find the picture of one just suicided. 

Perhaps from this outline and a little practice, the\reader 
will be able readilv to trace the references from one book to 



tf BEYOND THE VAIL. 

the other as well as those of each book to divisions of itself. 

Second. Purposes of these publications. 

"Bending the Vail" is intended as an exemplification of a 
methodical and somewhat scientific verification of the claims 
of phenomenal spiritualism in demonstration of the fact of 
continuity of life in conscious personality and identity of the 
individual beyond the period of dissolution commonly called 
"death," which demonstration also includes the fact of spirit 
return and conscious intercourse between the inhabitants of 
earth in the physical and those who have left the physical body 
and become inhabitants of a condition known as the spirit life, 
which persons we designate under the general terms "spirits," 
or "spiritual beings." And this condition of being after the 
period of death may be designated by the synonyms, "post- 
mortal," "spirit life," "spirit world," "in spirit," "spirit spheres," 
etc. 

"Beyond the Vail" seeks to reveal to persons in the phys- 
ical condition something of practical life in the immediate be- 
yond death, by relation of experiences of spirits who are inhab- 
itants of the spirit world; and, to reveal further the true rela- 
tion of the earth life to the post-mortal condition, and thus 
furnish mortals a basis of such practical ethics as is most con- 
ducive to desirable conditions both on earth and in the spheres 
beyond. 

For the reason that, as yet, so many people query, "Can 
these things be true?" the reader will find, on close scrutiny, 
that these records show every seance to have been absolutely 
a test seance. And, to keep this fact of test conditions before 
the reader's mind, there is much repetition of phenomena, but 
with constant variation of detail. So that, if the reader see 
a "loop-hole" in one seance large enough to allow a camel to 
pass through, he will not have read on very far until only a 
gnat can pass ; and a little farther on, the mountains, molehills, 
camels, and gnats of objection are gone, and he or she stands 
face to face with glad immortality. 

Again, these works do not so much seek to dogmatize as 
to set out facts from which each reader may theorize for him- 
self according to his or her own rational and spiritual develop- 
ments, and be able to discern continuity of conscious- personal- 
ity beyond the tomb; and also to discern what relation his or 
her course of life on earth bears toward shaping desirable con- 
ditions in the post-mortal condition, and thus teach what kind 
of life should be lived on earth in order that one may reap the 
greatest reward in the immediate beyond. 

In so far, therefore, as these works are compilations of 
psychic facts, they may be considered of scientific value. And, 
in so far as these compilations relate reliable methods of 



BEYOND TEE TAIL. 7 

obtaining psychic facts, they may also be considered of scien- 
tific value. 

These works do not seek to antagonize mental phases of 
mediumship; but rather to confirm them by phenomena more 
in touch with outward physical senses — by revelations through 
something nearer an independent channel. Although it is very 
probable that an absolutely independent and perfect channel 
is unattainable, yet, as in every other field of research, a care- 
ful collation of facts, sufficiently extended, must unerringly 
point out the absolute ultimate truth, at least to a mind suf- 
ficiently advanced and free from environing tenets to compre- 
hend the significance of the facts, as a whole. 

This work is compiled in two parts. 

Part First consists of a compilation of descriptions of se- 
ances descriptions of phenomena, remarks of the secretary con- 
cerning particular phenomena, and of the personages connected 
with the phenomena, and of the psychic matter given at the indi- 
vidual seances, except such written experiences as required two 
or more seances to complete; and such writings are compiled 
together, which, with some miscellaneous matter, constitutes 
Part Second, and the dependent parts are, as far as thought nec- 
essary, connected by references, which, with liberal use of the 
Index, it is thought, will keep the reader's mind in touch with 
most items throughout, concerning any general theme under 
consideration. 

Third. As to the illustrations. Doubtless some persons, 
on examination of "Rending the Vail," conceive that some of 
the illustrations therein are rather poor specimens of art; but 
when the reader fully considers that those illustrations were 
intended to illustrate, as nearly as possible, just the looks or 
appearance of the forms to the sight of the circle, which was 
at times very clear and distinct, and at other times more or 
less dim and indistinct, the imperfections in artistic design 
may be excused. 

Since "Beyond the Vail" is intended to portray actual life 
in the lower and intermediate spheres of various post-mortal 
conditions, the illustrations herein are designed to illustrate, 
as far as possible by shadings, the relative conditions of the 
individual spirit as to light and darkness, or the plane of devel- 
opment from rudimental spiritual unf oldment toward the high- 
er spiritual attainments. 

Again, the reader should bear in mind that the spirit artist 
endeavored to make the likeness of the materialized form which 
was presented to him, and often conditions of the circle would 
not permit a perfect make-up of the form. 

And yet, again, it should be remembered that, in cases 
where the design of the spirit is for recognition, it has to have 



8 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

made up a form of the appearance, as nearly as may be, that 
the spirit had at the time of life that it was best known to 
the persons who are expected to recognize it, for a person's 
appearance differs at different periods of life. And, also, dif 
ferent styles of dress, of wearing the hair of ladies; and of gen- 
tlemen, different styles of wearing hair and beard — all these, 
or any of them, seen on one day, if changed the next day, may 
make almost an entire change of the appearance of the individ- 
ual. All these things have to be taken into account on the 
question of recognition. 

Further explanations and desired information the reader 
may find as advancing and by following references and consult- 
ing the Index of both "Kending the Vail" and "Beyond the 
Vail," and especial attention is called to the whole of Chapter 
XIV. at the close of this volume. 



Beyond the Vail 



PART FIRST. 



DESCRIPTIONS OF SEANCES AND OF PHENOMENA 



AND 



A Record of the Spoken and Written Matter as Given by the 

Various Materializations, Except Where a Particular 

Writing was Not All Given at the Same Seance. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 11 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



1. For the purposes hereinafter disclosed, the medium, 
William W. Aber, and his wife, Sallie W. Aber, and J. H. Pratt 
and his wife, Josephine, and J. H. Nixon, on the evening of 
December 21, 1899, at the residence of said J. H. Pratt and 
wife, at Spring Hill, Kansas, began a series of meetings in con- 
tinuation of the seances of the Aber Intellectual Circle, as de- 
scribed in the book entitled "Rending the Vail." 

Seance No. 1. 

2. So soon as the circle was seated, phenomena of both 
men and women forms, commonly called "spirit materializa- 
tions," were presented to view. 

3. The men forms were able to vocalize fairly well. (See 
R. V., 339-342, 1189.) 

4. The women forms were able to converse only in a 
whisper. 

(a) The reader may now understand that the speaking of 
the women forms at all times is in a whisper unless the record 
of the specific speech states otherwise. 

(b) There is a property of being self-luminous, above the 
light of the room, attending these lady forms, which is some- 
times only so fully shown as to the men forms. 

(c) The speaking of the men forms is in oral speech, ex- 
cept it be stated otherwise. 



12 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

General Introduction to the Circle. 

5. The spirit Professor William Denton, standing in sight 
of the circle, made this general introduction in good oral tones 
of voice, speaking thus: 

(a) "Friends, you may remember, that when we had nearly 
completed our former book, for your work in which we feel 
proud, and we tender to you our congratulations for the suc- 
cess you have achieved already, with good prospect of more to 
follow, 

(b) "We told you of another publication we would be 
pleased to prepare for the benefit of those of your world 
who have eyes to see, desire to know, and understanding to 
comprehend. 

(c) Now, good friends, we are here, about to begin that 
work; and, if you furnish for us proper conditions on your side, 
we promise to give you a work that, in some respects, will 
much exceed the one already given." 

(Here the spirit speaks directly to Mr. Pratt concerning a 
loss, by fire, that Mr. Pratt had sustained a day before, which 
had given him much discouragement about being able to go 
on with this work at this time, which, though personal, con- 
tains thought of general interest.) 

(d) "I know of your loss by fire. We foresaw the danger 
and did give you warning as best we could, and v you felt that 
warning and began toward making yourself safe against the 
loss, but you did not move quite fast enough; therefore you 
were just a little late. 

(e) "But it seems so strange to me that you should worry 
about such earthly things with this light of the spirit world 
so brilliantly beaming on you, and these hosts of immortals 
standing before you ready to receive you in open and welcom- 
ing arms, though all your world were on fire. 

(f) "Instead of this worry, you should be the happiest of 
all mortals; the gates wide open and your awaiting home up 
yonder, where fires do not destroy and no insurance is needed, 
but a well-spent earthly life. 

(g) "Again, that property that left you by fire can be of 
but little loss to you; for, in only a little time at most, you 
would have left it. 

{h) "We did not have conditions to avert the fire, but we 
promise you that we can and will return unto you more than 
the profits that the property would or could have been to you. 

(t) "We brought out the other book (R. V.) away beyond 
your highest expectations, and why can you not have confi- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. , 13 

dence that we will carry you over every difficulty in this, if you 
allow us to do so? 

(j) "And in this new work we expect new helpers from 
the spirit side to take part." 

When Denton had finished his effort No. 1, and gone away 
from visibility to us, 

6. John Pierpont walked out of the cabinet, saying: 

(a) "Here I am at last. I was cognizant of future life at 
the time T was called to go, and that knowledge was a great 
help to me while passing through the valley and shadow. Of 
me, however, you have heard, and now it is my happy privilege 
to introduce to you one of our promised new helpers in this 
glorious work, who thus has something to say back to the mor- 
tal side." 

Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll. 

7. And, suddenly, after Pierpont was gone away, one 
stood before us apparently in deep grief, gloom, and sorrow; 
breathing heavily, bosom heaving, and, in tone of voice as from 
the concentrated moaning of a thousand bereft homes, and we 
also wept as the spirit said: 

(a) "I am one of whom you have read and heard much; 
but when I was called, I was not so well versed in the geogra- 
phy of the beautiful world and country and people of my im- 
mortal home as I should have been. No, oh, no! While on 
earth I attended many seances, but under such cover as to pre- 
vent my being able to solve the matter. 

(b) "No, the great and brave Ingersoll, as you have heard, 
could face the absurdities of theologians, to the applause of 
all opponents thereto, but was not brave enough to stand for 
the full truth in the face of a whole frowning world; yet, when 
it was mine to go, I was made to realize that the supreme hour 
had arrived, and beautiful visions of most beautiful things and 
beings presaged the glorious dawuing, as the things of earth 
and sorrowing of loved ones in the mortal faded away. 

(c) "But this little interview with you, though a glorious 
privilege, brings to me so vividly memories of the deep sor- 
rows of those remaining owes, that I must wait a little; and 
hoping to be so privileged as to meet you again, and, through 
you, give to your world some portrayal of the glorious realiza- 
tions, to an expanded mind, on passing from the mortal to the 
immortal side of life." 

Here the spirit seemed unable to longer hold his form, but 
gradually faded away from our sight. 



14 BETOND THE TAIL. 

8. The spirit Wesley Aber was followed by Father King, 
who came out of the cabinet, and both spoke to the text, "You 
can't keep the truth down," then gradually dematerialized, be- 
gining at the feet, but head and trunk followed down, giving 
the appearance of going through the floor. 

9. Then there came before the circle, one after another 
in quick succession, ten woman forms of different sizes and 
heights and all of them clad in garments of pure white, fash- 
ioned after the style of women's dress. 

(a) Some of these parted the curtains in front at center 
of cabinet and came through the parting from the cabinet into 
the room; some of them came out of the cabinet at the cor- 
ners of the cabinet into the room, and others apparently came 
up from the carpet as a vapor, gradually forming into human 
shape until of life size. 

(&) Some of these forms ; after tarrying a moment before 
the circle and moving about in the room, passed out of the 
sight of the circle into the cabinet at corners and center; some 
apparently passed out of our sight by beginning to dissolve 
away at the feet and sinking down until all gone, and some of 
them suddenly vanished from our sight. (R. V., 1170.) 

(c) These forms, while in the room, before the circle, 
moved about over the floor, between the circle and cabinet, 
bearing in their hands beautiful bouquets of flowers, which had 
been placed on the table by some of the circle; but the rich 
aromas were furnished by the spirits. 

(d) One of these spirits came out at the curtain parting, 
in center of cabinet front, and walked through an open door 
into an adjoining room and leisurely walked about in that 
room some one or two minutes, the circle being able to see 
the form moving about in the adjoining room; and, finally, back 
into seance-room and across it ot the cabinet door, and there, 
beginning at the feet, dissolved away, sinking down, as the 
dissolution went on, until the head reached the floor, and that 
vanished. (R. V., 15, 37.) 

10. The chemical control, Dr. Reed, and others, admon- 
ished us to patience in this work. They promised that if we 
would give them conditions, they would give to us beautiful 
portraits in crayon of some of our friends who are in spirit 
life — some plain and some in colors. 

11. Sam Schmidt was with us in his old manner, and re- 
minded us of how the predictions set out in "Rending the Vail" 
(525-526) are being realized as predicted, and adjourned the 
meeting to December 24, 1899. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 15 

Seance No. 2. 

December 24, 1899. 

12. Present as the circle, J. H. Pratt and Josephine, his 
wife, 0. V. N. House and B. House, his wife, J. F. Greenup and 
Mrs. M. J., his wife, Mrs. Arra Shirk, Mrs. Maggie Evans and 
her daughter, little Goldie, and J. H. Nixon. 

13. The spirit Professor William Denton, in his usually 
clear and distinct oral utterance, said: 

(a) "I am glad to find a little band, like you of this cir- 
cle, willing to serve as the machinery for us to demonstrate 
ourselves to your world; but we will have to ask you to have 
patience, while we get the machinery adjusted to the work 
we have to do. 

(o) "We design to make a book of facts so strong that 
none can question it, for this may be our last opportunity, al- 
though we hope not, and we are determined to do all we can, 
under such conditions as you furnish us, to produce a publi- 
cation to your world of what, for want of a better phrase, you 
call post-mortal conditions, far excelling all such revelations ever 
heretofore given to your world from spirit spheres." 

14. Jeanette Berry, sister to the medium, illustrated 
some of her work on the spirit side of life, by relating in a 
whisper the following incidents, to-wit: 

(a) "In my travels I met one poor benighted soul who was 
wandering in utter darkness in search of earth friends. This 
spirit did not know that he had passed out of the body. He 
had never known or heard anything of spirit return. What an 
awful gloom this poor sorrowing one was in! 

(J) "I took him by the hand and gradually led him to un- 
derstand his new condition ; and finally to understand and know 
of his friends over here, and of the great highway of spirit re- 
turn to mortals. 

(c) "But it was a long time before he could sufficiently 
realize all these things in this beautiful world, and be able to 
pass back understanding^ to the loved ones of the old home 
yet on the mortal side; and, for all my trouble, what a sweet 
compensation was the gratitude of that awakened soul. 

(d) "So, we have schools of learning on this side, and 
myriads of teachers; whilst all of the inhabitants of endless 
duration are and eternally will be pupils." (R. V., 1551, 1871, 
2185.) 



16 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 




ANONYMOUS LADY SPIRIT, 
Evidently a Member of this Band. 



The Work of Benevolence. 

15. A spirit of womanly form, apparel, and manner, clad 
in garments of clear white, gave no name, but in a whisper said: 

(a) "Friends, some of my experience in the spheres is that 
so many persons come to this side of life so ignorant of almost 
everything necessary to any kind of reconciliation to their new 
conditions and surroundings, that it furnishes a vast field of 
work to those who feel glad to assist unfortunate ones who 
are too poor in spirit to help themselves to grow rich in spirit- 
ual truth and food, as their spirit benefactors teach them to 
know of the fruit of the trees of life on the beautiful hills and 
evergreen plains over here. 

(o) "With many the way is dark for a long, long time, as 
you of earth would reckon duration. I meet many who are 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 17 

wandering about in such ignorance and darkness as not to 
know of their friends on the spirit side, nor how to find those 
left on earth, and all these conditions are to be illustrated for 
this publication." (1195.) 

Mrs. Margaret Dayton. 

16. One very brilliant form, in exceedingly realistic man- 
ner, made herself known to Mrs. House as her sister Margaret. 
Here was a glorious and happy meeting. One on spirit side to 
sister (yet in the body) on the mortal side: "My dear sister, 
do you know me?" Sister on the mortal side: "Oh, Sister Mar- 
garet Dayton, how do you do? How glad I am to see you here. 
You look so happy. x\nd, dear sister, I '11 soon be over there 
with you, and I ? m longing to go." 

As the apparition (spirit form) of Mrs. Dayton faded away, 
a voice from the cabinet said : 

17. "No, Mrs. House, you have some work to do yet be- 
fore you go. It is not right for mortals to wish to go to spirit 
life until the whole purpose of their life on earth is done. You 
need to fulfill all your earthly work, however hard the task, 
before your transition from the earthly house into spirit life; 
then, you do not have to linger about the old body. That body 
gets old, but the spirit, being eternal, is always young. How- 
ever old your body, your spirit is young as it ever was." 

Seance No. 3. 

December 28, 1899. 

18. Wesley Aber stood to our view and hearing, saying: 
"We are here again for work. We desire to have the most 

cordial cooperation, with which we hope to be able to make 
this effort successful." 

19. The spirit Dr. Eeed, in the arena at the desk, takes 
a tablet, writes a little, and tears the writing from the tablet, 
saying: "I have not written a great deal this time, but I sup- 
pose we may consider it a beginning." 

Then the spirit went over to the secretary and handed the 
writing to him, saying as he did so: "Mr. Secretary, I bear to 
you a small note, which you will please accept and examine at 
your leisure." The note was written in the hand we at once 
recognized as that of the spirit Dr. Keed, and the following is 
a copy, to-wit: 

20. "Friends, we are as impatient to begin the regular 
work as you are to have us, but it is necessary for us to have 

bv — 2 



18 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

the proper conditions before we can begin. We will endeavor 
to give you some wonderful phenomena in this book. I can't 
say that it will be more wonderful than the work we have 
given you before, but it will be equally as marvelous as our 
former work. (Signed) Dr. Reed.' 1 

Joan of Arc. 

21. A spirit which the controls told us is Joan of Arc, 
dressed in long white gown, fitting by waistband, rather trum- 
pet-sleeved and borders all of white lace, standing between the 
secretary and southeast corner of the cabinet, facing the north 
(see R. V., 1170); rather large form, somewhat masculine in 
manner of gesticulation, speaking in a rather low but clear, dis- 
tinct whisper, said: 

22. "I am one of the few fortunate ones chosen by this 
band to in this way convey to the world of mortals some idea 
of experiences in the spirit world; and in doing so I may re- 
peat somewhat of expressions made by me elsewhere and else- 
wise in presence of other and different sensitives. 

{a) "Of my earthly career you may learn much from books 
already published in your world, and therein you may find that, 
many years ago, as you count time, there was one whose life 
was called to be extraordinary for one of my sex. I had a 
varied experience in your world, and, out of trials and tribula- 
tions there brought on me because of great soul sympathy for 
my people, I came to the spirit world with yearnings for such 
as need a guiding hand out of dark conditions (1195); and soon 
the course of my future life was opened unto me. And to lead 
me along, I was caused to meet many who needed assistance 
and sympathy; and as such touches went out to make their 
burdens lighter, my own soul began to grow and round out 
and open up to itself greater powers of appreciation of new 
beauties, new grandeur, new delights, everywhere, increasingly 
shone on me even out of that which had been darkness and 
gloom unto me; and now, my very being continually more and 
more thrills in unison and symphonic harmony with the rolling 
of the spheres; and so, they tell me, will it ever and endlessly 
be; and what has been and is mine in spirit is awaiting you 
all, my dear friends." 

Little Nellie. 

23. One of the cabinet controls, called Nellie Gray, we 
usually designate as "Little Nellie" (R. V., 1163), talked a lit- 
tle while in childish manner of speech, being glad to meet us 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 19 

all; and, speaking of her childish manner, she said: "I never 
was born, but was taten by dood spirits to spirit world before 
I was born on earth. I was born right into the spirit world. 
Have to be longer in childish ways than if born into your world 
before going to the spirit side." (R. V., 2410.) 

Anna Clemmens. 

24. A spirit giving this name stood forth much in manner 
and appearance as did Joan of Arc, saying in a whisper: 

(a) "I, too, am permitted to gaze back in this way at 
earthly scenes; and, for a time, dwell on earthly memories 
while bringing to you for your world some experiences and 
observations of. my own, both in mortal and since, in the 
spheres. 

(&) "I have observed that there are innumerable states 
and conditions and diversified experiences in spirit as on earth. 
We may illustrate by different highways, thus: 

(c) "Let one condition be represented by a certain high- 
way, and another condition by another and differing highway, 
leading through a different country. 

(d) "As no two highways of your world lead over the 
same country and present the same scenery to the traveler, so 
of the children of earth no two travel over the same highway 
or have the same experiences; different scenes being presented 
to each from those presented to any other. 

(e) "One person traveling one road is landed into the 
spirit world at one point, and one on another road enters spirit 
life at another point; and a third, on yet another road, enters 
at a different point from either of the others. And so on, the 
endless procession moves, landing its infinitude of differenti- 
ated individualities; and each one has a different idea of earth 
life to relate. Therefore no two relate the same story of the 
earthly journey. (R. V., 2907, 2908.) 

(/) "But the varied highways of earth reach out into eter- 
nity, and the traveler on each goes eternally on his own road 
from the earth life. And thus all travel on in the spirit world* 
having different experiences here ; as with you; and, on return- 
ing to you, we have different experiences and different descrip- 
tions of the spirit world to relate to you, according as each has 
realized for himself. 

(g) "But the roads of some are through the darkness, over 
rough places with thorns and brambles, and few wayside 
flowers. 

(h) "While of others the darkness is cleared away, the 
rough places are found no more, and most gorgeous wayside 
flowers and aromas of exquisitely sweet fragrance, and aromat- 
ic shrubbery, with hills, as it were, reverberating most delight- 
fully harmonious symphony. 



20 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

(i) "It is as we, from advanced gardens of delight, journey 
back toward the home of our own morning, we meet those 
along the thorny ways; and our own delight is increased at the 
removal we make of thorns along their ways." 
The Lace-Weaver; or, Making Pongee for Spirit Clothing. (1173.) 

25. Here is an account of the appearance, at this seance, 
of what Ave call The Lace-weaver, showing how they make the 
cloth which the spirits designate angel cloth, or spirit pongee, 
for their clothing. 

(a) This experiment is repeated once or twice per month, 
with considerable variation as to details, but nearly enough 
similar to this that perhaps a mere reference hereafter will 
be sufficient to satisfy the general reader regarding this 
phenomenon. 

(&) And now comes one having the appearance of a young 
woman clad in garments of pure white, slightly stooping for- 
ward and making very graceful movements of hands and arms. 

(c) Soon the circle see the hands manipulating something 
having the appearance of a small bunch of lace cloth, angel 
cloth, or spirit pongee (see R. V., 720, 721), but the specter 
keeps on moving and working with the pongee; and, as she 
does so, the pongee increases in bulk. 

(d) From time to time, as the spirit proceeds with the 
work, she unfolds the pongee and spreads it out to view of the 
circle, and the pongee at last has the appearance of broad lace 
cloth. 

ie) At length the spirit steps to the secretary, holds the 
pongee up, and spreads it out to view of the circle. The pongee 
is now of the size of a large shawl. Then the spirit spreads the 
pongee over the secretary and lets it fall on the head and 
spread out over the shoulders and about the body of the sec- 
retary down to the waist, leaving a folding on the secretary's 
head of the appearance of a lady's fascinator. 

(/) The pongee, while perfectly transparent, has the touch 
of any soft textile fabric, and is accompanied by a sweet aro- 
matic perfume that seems to fill the entire room. 

(g) This lace seems to dissolve away to invisibility, and 
the spirit steps from the secretary to the desk at the areua 
(R. V., 1170), takes a tablet, turns about, faces the circle, and 
holding tablet closed in left hand, with the right hand moving 
back and forth just above and directly over the tablet. Soon 
there is visible on the tablet the appearance of a small bunch 
of cloth, which the right hand of the spirit begins to handle, 
and the bundle of pongee to grow in size, until presently the 
spirit lifts the bunch of cloth from the tablet and hands the 
tablet to one of the circle near the arena, orders the tablet 
passed around the circle for inspection, spreads the pongee out 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 21 

to view of the circle, when it has the appearance of pure white 
lace cloth. Then she spreads this lace pongee about her neck 
and shoulders as a lady would a lace shawl. Then going from 
the north side of the room to the south side, turning round, 
facing the circle, nearly touching the south wall of the room, 
and being midway from the secretary to southeast corner of 
the cabinet. There she takes that lace shawl from her shoul- 
der, holds it out to view of the circle, agitates the pongee with 
some degree of violence, and, as she does this, the pongee 
grows dark and dense and opaque, and increases in size. Then 
she spreads this pongee over her shoulder, until it reaches from 
head to floor down the sides. A motion of the hands about the 
waist effects to produce a waistband, holding the garments 
close to the waist. The spirit now, with hands held down, but 
slightly outward, stands there as if clad in black silk skirt and 
waist. The waist open in front, showing white ruffled filling 
full out in bosom, as is the fashion with some women. Then 
the spirit turns about and the whole of the clothing becomes 
mottled, like calico, in white and black, and the spirit steps 
near to the Cabinet and vanishes from our sight. 

William Denion. (R. V., 1633.) 

26. The spirit Wm. Denton walked out of the cabinet 
and stood near by the secretary, but facing the circle; and ia 
good, clear, full volume of oral tones, said: 

(a) "Friends, here I am at last, this evening, in better rig 
than ever before. I had other work to do which detained me 
somewhat, but you have been right royally entertained. 

The Faculties Are All Retained in Spirit Life. 

26J. "There may be some who would like to know whether 
all their faculties will be retained when they reach this side 
of life. To such I would make answer, 'Yes.' All the faculties 
are retained in spirit life. Not one of them lost or dropped at 
transition; but, gradually, the functions are so changed as to 
subserve the uses and needs of the spirit as advancing condi- 
tions allow and demand. 

(a) "So, whatever legitimate and natural desires you may 
have will all be susceptible of complete fulfillment in the life 
eternal." 

27. Some of the different conditions. 

(a) "In my investigations of conditions in the spirit world 
I find that there are those who do not realize that there is pos- 
sibility and a way of spirit return to those yet inhabiting the 
mortal form. 

(b) "I find others who do not care to return." ("And He 
went and preached to spirits in prison." I. Pet. 3:19.) 

(c) "On the other hand, I meet some whose highest heaven 



22 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

is in hunting up the darkened ones and teaching them the way 
of life and light." (22 a.) 

27-§. A wandering and lost one. (1195.) "And I meet some 
wandering ones who do not realize that they are out of the 
mortal body, and whom it sometimes takes their guides a long 
time to lead to a consciousness of their true condition." (90.) 

Effect of False Theology. 

(d) "Then again, I meet some who are absolutely lost and 
in total outer darkness because of a false theological training. 
Such go wandering and moaning about in search of a personal 
God seated on a great white throne, and their Savior, the only 
begotten Son of God, sitting at the right hand of God; and 
great convoys of angels flying in the midst of the heavens and 
round about the great white throne, with golden harps in their 
hands. From the time they were born until they reached the 
hour of death they never knew or heard or dreamed of any pos- 
sible different condition to meet them in the great beyond. 
These are the hardest of all cases to be led to the real and 
saving truth and light. 

Teachers of False Theology. 

(e) "But, oh, my friends, words cannot express the terri- 
ble and awful retribution awaiting those teachers of false the- 
ology who did not themselves believe their own ^teachings. 

(f) "When they pass to this side of life, they hear those 
who were their disciples asking them: 'Where is our Savior 
you told us about? W T here is our God you preached to us? 
Where shall we find the great city of gold-paved streets, and 
the golden throne, and the harps of gold, and the city of jasper 
walls? 

(g) "Often, when a benevolent spirit undertakes to teach 
all these their true condition, he is driven away as of the fabled 
'diabolism' the priesthood had taught. 

(h) "But all the clouds of false teaching must eventually 
be rolled away, and these lost ones must be redeemed from 
their darkened conditions by being filled with knowledge and 
truth instead of the false and darkening. 

" 'Oh, for a thousand tongues to tell 
Of this real orthodox hell.' (R. V., 2577, 2578.) 

(i) "As I was on my way here, recently, I met some spir- 
its who asked me whether they could be permitted to come in 
and tell of their experiences, and I bade them come, promising 
that, if there should be room and time to allow, they would be 
permitted; and if they could not get to speak, they could listen 
and be much benefited, and some of them you may hear from 
soon." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 23 

Hays. 

28. A spirit form said: "My name is Hays. I lived at 
Lawrence, Kansas. I died of consumption. I would like to 
reach my relatives and friends who are yet in the mortal." 

General Sheridan. 

29. There came forth a spirit of rather low stature, say- 
ing: "Where is that man I used to practice with at manual of 
arms? I mean General Haughey. I am General Phil. Sheridan, 
and thought it would be nice to have a little drill." 

Secretary: "Why, General, Cap. Haughey is on your side 
now." 

Spirit: "I know that, but I thpught I would just remind 
you of some of our past experiences. I may have more to say 
in this arena later on." 

Then the spirit vanished. (See E, V., 112 j, 124 a-c, 222.) 

Daniel O'Brien. 
30. A stranger to the circle stepped out of the cabinet, 

picked up the trumpet, and said through it: "Where am I at? 

This is a quare place for a stranger to ba in, I do' know. May- 
be Oi 'm inthrudin' upon yese?" 

Circle: "Oh, no, Pat; you are entirely welcome here." 
Spirit: "Indade, be Oi? Thank yese — thank ye all fer that* 

Say, Howard, how be yese gittin' on, I do' know, jist?" 

Mr. Pratt: "I am getting along all right; but who are you> 

and how do you do, sir?" 

Spirit: "Indade, and don't you know O'Brien?" 

Mr. Pratt: "I can't call you to mind now." 

Spirit: "Don't you know O'Brien? We used to be over 

on the other side of the Ohio River, don't you know — way up 

the river? Indade, it is so sthrange old f rinds fergit wan 

anither." 

Mr. Pratt: "Oh, yes; Pan O'Brien." 

Spirit: "Yis, yis. That's it, that's it. How do ye do, 

old boy?" 

Then followed such a raking up of old times as only an 

Irishman in highest glee can portray. 

Several Spirits for Recognition Only. 
31. The spirits Dr. Chilesworth, noticed in "Rending the 
Vail," Henry Lamb, quartermaster 22d Kansas, deceased at 
Washington, of sickness contracted at Camp Alger, and Charlie 
Stewart, each clearly identified by friends in the circle. 

Peculiar Incident, 
(a) The spirit Mary House, after being identified by her 
friends in the circle, went out of the seance-room, through an 
open door into an adjoining room, but ventured too far, and the 



24 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

form fell to pieces, so that she was not able to return in visi- 
ble form back to the cabinet. 

Seance No. £. 

December 31, 1899. 
Illustrations. 
32. With this band of spirits there is an artist who, it is 
claimed, was, when in the physical life, one of the famous Ital- 
ian artists. 

(a) This spirit made all of the illustrations for this book; 
and for this purpose the circle provided a wooden box sixteen 
inches wide, eighteen inches long, and three and a half inches 
deep, with the top side of the box fastened to the box by hinges 
and lock and key, all after the manner of a common trunk. 

(&) In this box, blank sheets of sketch paper, 14x16 inches, 
were placed, and the lid closed and locked down. Crayon pen- 
cils were also furnished by the circle. 

(c) This box of sketch paper was always open to inspec- 
tion of the circle or to any one of the circle before beginning 
of seance, and the paper, after examination, carefully placed 
in the box and locked up in the box, some person of the circle 
keeping the key. 

(d) Generally, however, the spirit artist would open the 
box at the time he was ready to begin an illustration or por- 
trait, and take from the box one of the blank sheets of paper 
and pass it about to the sight of each memeber of the circle, 
until all were satisfied that the paper had no design of any 
kind whatever on it; then the spirit would place the blank 
sheet in the box on the other sheets found in the box, would 
invite some one or more of the circle to stand by the spirit and 
place their hands upon the box. In this attitude the spirit 
would pass his hands over the box with great rapidity for fif- 
teen to thirty seconds, then take paper out of the box and hold 
it to view of those having their hands on the box. Now those at 
the box and all the circle see there to be an outline of a picture 
on the paper and so declare. Now the spirit has those at the 
box hold the paper by three corners; the spirit with left hand 
holds the lower left corner of the paper and passes right hand 
over the paper, and those holding the paper distinctly see the 
picture develop to complete finish, the whole time of producing 
the picture not exceeding two minutes. 

(e) On this occasion, at seance time, Mr. Pratt thoroughly 
examined all of the papers that were in this box; and, finding 
them all clean, left them in the box, locked the lid down, put 
the key in his pocket, and left the box with the papers so locked 
up in the box inside the cabinet. 

if) A few minutes later the medium took his seat inside 
the cabinet. Shortly the artist appeared in the arena, having 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 



25 



the box of papers, and placed the box on the arena table; and 
at invitation of the spirit, the secretary and Mrs. House placed 
their hands upon the box, whereupon the spirit began moving 
his hands about over the box as though sketching and contin- 
ued about ninety seconds, when, at instance of the spirit, we 
unlocked the box and found this portrait, life-size, drawn upon 
one of the papers that had been in the box all the while. 

(g) The reader may say that this is lacking one element 
of a complete test case : that the papers should have been exam- 
ined after the box came put of the cabinet. But the reader will 
find that this element is abundantly supplied in many cases 
hereafter related, some of which show that the spirit took the 
blank paper from the box, exhibited the same to every person 
in the circle, then had two or more persons of the circle hold 
the paper outside the box while the spirit drew the portrait, 
and all done in sight of the whole circle all the while, from the 
time the artist took the paper out of the box until the finished 
portrait, as follows: 




BETTIE JENKINSON. 



26 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

32^. Betty Hairsnape was born about 1793, at Wither- 
slack, Westmoreland County, in Northern England; was raised 
a strict Methodist, and at about the age v of twenty married 
Thomas Jenkinson. There were nine children of this union, 
and with all of them they came to America in 1842 and settled 
at Cleveland, Ohio, the same year; and having the children all 
raised to manhood and womanhood, she departed this life Aug- 
ust 12, 1869, nearly seventy-six years of age. Five of the chil- 
dren yet remain, two of them at Cleveland, Ohio, and three at 
Spring Hill, Kansas. Of the latter three, Mrs. Betty House 
(16, 17) is one; and of the deceased children, Mrs. Margaret Day- 
ton (16, 17) is one. Mrs. House says that her mother was all 
her life both clairvoyant and clairaudient, and that several of 
the children were, more or less, possessed of such mental 
phases. 

33. Here Dr. Reed made a writing that is carried forward 
and made as a preface to written experiences. 

Criticising the Secretary's Record. 

34. Spirit Denton then walked out of the cabinet, saying 
with regard to the lace-cloth weaving mentioned in last min- 
utes: "You should use the word 'pongee' instead of 'cloth/ 
(See R. V., 721.) 

Peculiar Spirit Conditions Continued. 

35. "In going back and forth in spirit life, as I said before, 
I have observed many strange and peculiar conditions in the 
lives of those after transition, and some of them very pitiable 
indeed. 

(a) "I tell you, my friends, it is not all gold on this side of 
life. A real happy entrance into spirit life depends on an hon- 
orable and well-spent earthly life; merely believing or even 
knowing spirit return will not suffice. Do not think to rest 
your case safely on mere belief in Spiritualism. Faith will no 
more save the nominal Spiritualist than it will anybody else. 

Delirium Tremens. 

36. "I will here relate a case in point: I met a poor soul 
who had an awful, a terrible burden. Of his awful hell no 
tongue can tell. Oh, what a burden! Poor soul! Delirium tre- 
mens — this was his burden. Delirium tremens, with its hissing- 
serpents, stinging scorpions, hideous monstrosities, sent this 



BEYOND TEE VAIL. 27 

unfortunate one across the river of death into darkness and 
gloom, with no ray of comfort but a determination to find some 
poor mortal upon whom to attempt to satiate the inburning 
fires. 

(a) "When I asked this poor fellow to allow me to assist 
him to get away from that burden, he said: 'No, I think I can 
work it out/ 

(b) "He thought to return and have someone else do mis- 
chief; but his guide — this was his savior (R. V., 2434) — was with 
him, and they passed me by. 

(c) "But at last the poor soul found out that he was lost 
and needed help and asked: 'Where am I? I am lost, lost! I 
am not where I was.' 

(d) "And here was that softening of selfishness that 
opened the gates of his soul to any tones of sympathy and prof- 
fered assistance; and his guide said to him: 'I am your 
friend — ■' " and Denton, being unable to hold the form longer, 
returned into the cabinet. 

An Unrecognized Spirit. 

37. After Denton had gone, a spirit form having the ap- 
pearance of a woman, in pure white garments, came out of the 
cabinet and stood near to the secretary so that he, using the 
trumpet as a sound-condenser, could more distinctly under- 
stand the words uttered by the spirit, which were in a whisper, 
that all of the circle could hear, but could not distinctly under- 
stand except in part. 

38. Concerning different avocations, this spirit said: 
"Dear friends of earth, I am here in this way to try to tell you 
of some of the conditions of our world. Here we have different 
avocations assigned to us according to onr needs and desires. 

(a) "Some engage in teaching and training the intellect of 
those who need and desire such training. 

(b) "Some with great love of children find ample opportu- 
nity for use and enjoyment of this attribute of their natures 
in the kindergartens of the many thousands of children contin- 
ually arriving on these shores. 

(c) "Some are most happy in endeavoring to assist the 
friends of earth into higher and better conditions and in coun- 
teracting the abnormal influences of undeveloped and misdi- 
rected spirits over the minds of mortals. 

(d) "So it is that there is work of benevolence and philan- 
thropy for all who are prepared for such work. 

(e) "The exercise of active philoprogenitiveness furnishes 
the same delightful enjoyments to the soul over here as with 
you and greater; for here we more clearly discern the far 



28 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

reaching consequences of our endeavors to do good to whomso- 
ever is in need of assistance. 

(/) "As with you, all in teaching are themselves taught." 

Some Lady Forms. 



38J . Au(i ,ye ma y sav again that, unless the record states 
otherwise, the speech of the woman forms is all in a whisper, 
but generally heard by all the circle — at least by all who have 
not defective hearing. 

(a) Now one comes from the cabinet, stands near to the 
secretary, against the south side of the room and the face 
toward the circle to the north. (K. V., 1170.) 

39. This spirit says: "I am Priscilla Nixon." 

Secretary: "Is this sister Priscilla?" 

Spirit: "Yes, brother, this is sister Priscilla. I have been 
an inhabitant of this beautiful spirit world a long time, dear 
brother, as it would seem to those yet in the mortal life. 

(a) "While there really is no mortal, mortality, or real 
death to the spirit, the soul, the person, man or woman, yet we 
may use the term 'mortal' to signify or personify the body or 
clothing we wear or inhabit, which is subject to dissolution; 
and the term 'death' we may use to signify the separation of 
the spirit from this body — to signify the transition process. 

(I) "Well, dear brother, since I have been a dweller in the 
spirit world, I have always been in a beautiful home, and in 
the society of those who are basking in the bright light of the 
glorious and harmoniously rolling spheres, except when on 
some errand of enlightenment to those poor unfortunates in a 
lowly condition. 

(c) "Whatever there may be of truth or otherwise in your 
traditions, the grandest truth of them all and personifying the 
work of every good soul that leaves the mortal for what you 
call the immortal, is the saying: 'By which also he went out 
and preached unto the spirits in prison.' (I. Peter, 3:19.) 

(d) "It has been my good pleasure to engage in teaching 
children and caring for them. As they leave their little tene- 
ments of clay, we see them coming. We see them leaving their 
disconsolate mothers, and we have already prepared for them 
little arks of bulrushes, and we gather the innocents home to 
us, and we care for them and tenderly guard all of their inter- 
ests. We school them and prepare them for the higher schools 
and pass them along to make room for the constantly coming 
thousands. Oh, what great joy and comfort to me that I am 
permitted the sweet and happy duty of schooling so many of 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 29 

these bright little grateful cherubic passengers on board the 
trains of endless fruition! 

(e) "By my calling, I am permitted interviews with the 
good and great in the higher schools of the advanced spheres 
beyond me in the world eternal. Oh, we cannot express to you 
more than a very faint idea of the thrilling delight in which a 
spiritually enlightened soul on this side of life perpetually 
basks." 



The Washerwoman — The Work of Rum and the True Temples of God. 

40. A form like that of a common-sized woman walked 
out of the cabinet doorway, near to the music-box, which is now 
generally near the arena table, not being near enough to the 
secretary in this instance for him to hear all the words uttered, 
withdrew into the cabinet and came out right away at south- 
east corner of the cabinet and stood midway from cabinet 
to secretary, facing the circle to the north, and said to the 
secretary: 

(a) "I am informed that you are the gentleman to whom 
I should report of my experiences; and so I stand nearer to 
you. 

(&) "I have been requested to come here to-night and tell 
you good people something about my own life-line experiences. 

(c) "I was accounted a good girl. I looked forward to- 
ward a long and happy life on earth in consort with an idol- 
ized and worthy husband. But I was doomed to an awful 
disappointment. 

(d) "Too soon the orange and apple blossoms began to 
fade, and their fragrance began to leave our happy morning, 
and clouds began to obscure the bright sunrise; for a serpent 
— a deadly serpent — intruded between dear husband and his 
trusting wife, and this serpent wound its cold, slimy folds 
about where I had hoped my own arms would always remain 
entwined; and I beheld my own beloved converted from a lov- 
ing and faithful to a drunken husband. Rum absorbed our lit- 
tle estate and destroyed the physical energies of a husband and 
father. 

(e) "I could endure starvation myself, but the children 
must not cry for bread, and none to give, so I was converted 
into a poor toiling washerwoman. Husband in the toils of the 
demon rum; old friends with smiling faces all gone; husband 
at last dies a drunken pauper, and I, poor broken-hearted wash- 
erwoman and widow with several helpless children to care for 
and rear to manhood and womanhood, which at last I did, 
except one who was early taken to the sj>irit side; and this, in 



30 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

the midst of so much trouble, made it seem as though I would 
lay life's burdens down. 

(/) "And I turned toward the church, seeking its promised 
consolations. And I prayed and asked God to help me to lift 
the awful burdens away and to give me food and raiment for 
my poor children. But their God, that feeds the ravens and 
clothes the lilies, neither answered my prayers nor moved any 
of his rich pew-holders to relieve me to the amount of a mor- 
sel, nor even a word of sympathy. 

(g) "And I asked a woman of the world why it was that 
God did not now, as of old, 'give the young ravens their food.' 

(h) "I began to question the existence of a 'prayer- 
answering God,' and to wonder whether or not His church mili- 
tant had not divided all of God's effects out to pew-holders and 
for costly carpets. 

(i) "And this good old woman of the world said to me: 
'My dear child, poor soul, go with me.' And I followed her out 
into the world, along the byways and hedges; and there, away 
from tall steeples and cushioned pews and ingrain carpets and 
golden censers, we found God feeding the ravens as of old, and 
the ravens, the sable-winged ravens, divided their God-given 
food with me and my dear children, and that good woman of 
the world is now in spirit life with me and with many others, 
and all as happy as birds of a summer morning, and her illu- 
minated spirit still calls us her 'dear children,' and we behold 
her as indeed one of the true temples of God." 

(Continued at 51.) 



Seance No. 5i 

January 4, 1900. 

41. Miss May Cook, her mother, Mrs. L. C. Cook, C. V. 
N. House and wife, J. H. Pratt and wife, J. F. Greenup, and 
Maggie Evans now constitute the circle, and, as a matter of 
course, Mr. Aber, the medium, his wife, Sallie Whiting Aber, 
and J. H. Nixon, the secretary, always present. 

42. The reader should bear in mind that the secretary 
takes notes of each seance, makes out between seances a full 
report of the last seance, and reads that report to the circle 
at the next seance, and if any error of the secretary's report 
is detected by the circle or by the spirits, it is at once announced 
and corrected. 

(a) As compared with some other occasions, the phenom- 
ena at this seance were rather meager in general, though some 
were excellent. 

43. The artist made' a very beautiful and well-executed por- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 31 

trait of some woman form under rather strong test conditions. 
(a) Mr. House examined the box of blank portrait paper, 
finding and pronouncing the paper all to be entirely clean, 
placed the paper all back into the box and closed down and 
locked the lid and put the key in his pocket; and the medium 
took the box into the cabinet; but immediately the spirit Dr. 
Beed brought the box out and placed it on the floor near to 
the secretary. As Reed returned into the cabinet, the artist 
appeared in the arena and the cabinet controls told the secre- 
tary to place the box of portrait material on the writing-stand 
at arena; which being done, the secretary, Mrs. Aber, and C. V. 
N. House placed their hands on the box and the artist moved 
his hands over the box about ninety seconds, asked for the key, 
took it, opened the box, and there was this picture No. 2 on 
the face of the top paper in the box. (Paragraph 15.) 

44. Then Lorenzo Aber made a writing of some of his 
experience since in spirit life, to be continued. This writing 
was done by the spirit while standing in sight of the circle, 
as a materialization, in the same way as the writings of "Rend- 
ing the Vail." This writing is found at paragraph 1159 of this 
volume. 

Effect of Wealth. 
(Oration by the Spirit Professor William Denton.) 

45. "Friends, money is good in its place; but so many peo-. 
pie become dominated by the idea that money is the ultimatum 
of life and desirable as an end to highest earthly attainment 
that all efforts are made for accumulation of money and of 
money values in property, until the very last spark of every 
other consideration of life is lost sight of; and, on the brink 
of the grave, even to the last hour of mortal life, all effort is 
to obtain money; and the victim of the money delusion is sep- 
arated from his earthly accumulations by death, and his money 
left for others to fight over, and someone else to fight for. 

(a) "I have met many who were wealthy as your world 
accounts wealth. They had vast possessions of money, of lands, 
of houses; idolized by the whole world on account of their vast 
possessions, but now, in spirit life, poor and bereft of all that 
makes up worthy considerations in the life eternal; as poor as 
I was considered in the earthly life. And, oh, friends, to be poor 
in spirit is indeed poverty! 

(b) "And now I want to say to you who are here that who- 
ever lives in knowledge of the truth secretly, not openly for 



32 BEYOND TEE VAIL. 

the world to be benefited by the truth they know, will not at 
once be permitted the glory of the sweet light of spirit life. 
Such will be in different sphere from those who spread their 
light abroad for the benefit of all who seek to know, regard- 
less of what the world may say. 

(c) "You will be better in spirit life for an open life, a 
candid life, an honest life among the people of your world on 
earth." 

Daniel O'Brien. 

46. It frequently occurs that the circle become a little 
lethargic, or too intently fix their minds on the phenomena; 
and it seems these controls have procured the presence of this 
witty Irish spirit to relieve the intense thought of the circle, 
break up the monotony, and place the circle in a less positive 
condition. 

(a) This Irishman, too, makes an incontrovertible, self- 
evident, astounding test of the claims of genuine materializa- 
tion set up here, to any person of common sense who is per- 
mitted to witness and hear his performance. 

(b) In this instance this Irish spirit rushed out of the cab- 
inet, seized the trumpet, held it up to his mouth as a bugler 
would, and in loud and almost deafening tones of voice of gen- 
uine Irish brogue, spoke through the trumpet,^ engaging with 
the different members of the circle in mirthfulness, laughter, 
joking, and repartee, certainly the equivalent of the most expert 
clown or ringmaster; and finally turned to Mr. Pratt, with 
whom, it seems, he was acquainted some fifty-five years ago, 
thus: 

Spirit : "Say, Mr. Pratt, this is a great thrick ye 've got 
here, a very great thrick, and shure it is, surr. This is the hap- 
piest toime uv me loife. 

(c) "Say, Mr. Secretary, what be yese doin'? Why don't 
ye take down moi spache, Oi do' know?" 

Secretary: "Mr. O'Brien, I am not enough Irish to get 
your talk on paper as fast as you reel it off." 

(c) Spirit: "Yis, yis. Oi 'm a great unwinder of the Irish 
brogue, but, ye see, though Oi unwind iver so fast, Oi niver git 
it thwisted. It cooms to yese all unwound without thwists or 
knots. It sames thet yese moight report some uv it onnyway." 
(And just here the ladies of the circle could restrain their laugh- 
ter no longer, and turned their* laughter loose at full volume. 
The more they laughed, the louder and faster the Irishman 
talked.) 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 33 

(e) Spirit: "Oh, vis, dear ladies [aside: "Oi used to say 
'swate ladies'"], Oi was always in high g]ee among the ladies, 
joking and jisting and they would laugh so heartily at me, it 
seemed sometimes jist loike they would enjoy being hooped up 
a little, jist; and that's the rasin the ladies had sich a loikin' 
to me: Oi had the cooper's thrade to perfection." And the 
form fell to pieces, vanished, and the trumpet fell to the floor 
with a great noise, and all else had vanished except the merri- 
ment of the circle at this exquisite Irish episode. 

Seance No. 6. 

January 7, 1900. 
47. The circle is the same as at Seance No. 5. After the 
usual opening, some conversation as to personal matters, and 
some usual phenomena, the spirit Professor William Denton 
made an oration, giving a general outline of the experiences of 
persons who enter spirit life in more or less darkened condi- 
tions, saying: 

(a) "Since coming to spirit life, I have met very many who 
were in darkness and wandering about in search of light. They 
could not realize their true condition or position. 

(b) "As if you dreamed of being in some unknown desert 
beset by dangers on every hand, and darkness all about you, 
that you could find no way of escape; at one time noises, fright- 
ening noises, as of some wild tornado making destruction of all 
in its way as it comes toward you, and feel that you have no 
way of escape; at another time traveling over rough, rocky 
roads, passing up hill and mountain sides, deep canons below, 
into which, if you make one misstep, you must be hurled; at 
another time shut up in a dark cave, and passing along in the 
cave you come to a stream of water, and someone with a light 
accompanies you into that cave; and, when you reach that 
stream of water, you find a little boat in which you cross, and 
you tie the boat up, so that when in a short time you return, 
you can recross the stream, and you wander farther into the 
cave, and your light goes out, and you get separated from your 
guide and can find him not; and you wander on in total dark- 
ness, hunting for the way back. At last you hear the rippling 
of the waters of the little stream, your hope is inspired, you 
are on the right path out of that dismal cave; you approach 
nearer and nearer the stream; hope is brightening all the time. 
But presently the ripples of the stream are swollen to the 
noises of rushing waters; you get to the stream, and your boat 
is gone, and the little stream is a rushing torrent. If you would 

BV — 3 



34 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

try to wade or swim it, the rapid current would dash you under 
the rocks of the wall of the cave, and your hope is all gone 
again. 

(c) "What must be done but wail on in the forlorn hope 
that by and by the waters will subside; and, in your wailings, 
tired Nature says, 'Rest a little,' and you are asleep. You wake 
up later on and find yourself out of the cave and returning 
over the same rough hill route that led you down into the cave. 

(d) "On your way up the hill you meet one lost as you 
were, and headed for the same cave. You warn him not to go 
there, but say, 'Come, let us go back up the hill.' 

(e) "And your inner eyes begin to open because of your 
warning, and your companion begins to see light because of 
heeding your warning; and at the top of the hill you look away 
toward the dawning beyond the faraway hills; and you hear 
some sweet music notes, as of birds at first break of day, borne- 
on balmy air; and while you rest upon the crest of the hill, you 
slumber in quietude and you are left sleeping now till your 
tired souls are rested and able to travel on toward the light. 

48. "Our maimer of life is somewhat different from yours. 
We have organizations or brotherhoods, it is true, but for a 
widely different purpose from those of earth. Your organiza- 
tions are mostly for selfish purposes. You have organizations 
on your earth for monopolizing into beneficiaries, invasions into 
the domains of the natural rights of inheritance of individuals 
of a common parentage; but organizations in the spirit world 
are for the reverse. 

(a) "The organizations of spirit life send out their agents 
— not to gather up the effects of individual efforts, but to dis- 
seminate light, truth, and wealth among the needy denizens of 
both the mortal and immortal sides of life. 

(c) "Being on such an errand, I met with a woman who 
seemed alone in a wilderness, and she was having in her charge 
a child, a beautiful child — " and the form of Denton vanished. 
(1272.) 

49. Instantly a spirit, whom the circle did not know and 
whose identity was not, at the time, revealed to the circle, 
stood before the circle and continued on the theme of experi- 
ences along the same lines opened out by Denton. In good oral 
speech this spirit said: 

(a) "I am here also, and hope to be able to say something 
of my twenty-five years of experience in spirit life: 

(b) "After I awoke, I was led on to a beautiful home, sur- 
rounded with every desirable appointment; and which seemed 
to me the height of perfection itself; but I was told that far 
richer beauty and grandeur awaited me in the illimitable be- 



BEYOND TEE VAIL. 35 

jond; and that in order for me to be prepared to reach and 
appreciate those grander heights, it were better for me to 
divide mj attainments and treasures among those in need of 
and hungering for the same. 

(c) "I at once eagerly sought out the unfortunates and 
pointed them toward the light; and these wandering ones 
learned of me the way out of dark and benighted conditions, 
and they turned upon me the gaze of gratitude that sent a thrill 
of joyful delight throughout my entire being; and all around 
me were beautiful lessons, enriching my own soul, as I passed 
along my angelic errand. 

50. "I met a lady by a stream of pure water, and what a 
beautifully pebbled bottom! (912.) And that beautiful woman 
was intently gazing into the beautiful stream, and at the varie- 
gated pebbly bottom. When I had gone over this road before, 
I did not see or even dream of such a gorgeous scene — such a 
beautiful woman wholly absorbed and drinking in silent delight 
of that beautiful stream. She was so beautiful. I would have 
lingered long to contemplate, but, having other duties calling 
me away, I moved on and met a gentleman, who led the way." 

(Continued at 127.) 



The Washerwoman. (40 i.) 

51. Now comes the spirit of the poor Washerwoman and 
continues her narrative: 

(a) "Kind sir, you may remember the good lady that calls 
me her child. As she led me along, we met many whom I had 
known. Some in good, nice, happy homes; some in lower con- 
ditions; and the very meeting of these old friends seemed to 
strengthen my soul for scenes to follow. 

Meets Her Little Child. 

52. "A happy meeting, indeed, did I have when led into the 
presence of my little child that I told you about the other even- 
ing. It had grown so much and been so tenderly cared for all 
these years by such loving hands as can be found only in the 
spirit world. How happy and blithe and gay, in such a glori- 
ous home was this child whom I once thought and mourned as 
lost! 

Meets the Once Drunken Husband. 

53. "But the good woman said, 'Corae on, my child. I will 
lead you to another scene, in a different place.' And soon we 



36 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

met one in a somewhat darkened condition, and the good old 
woman, now my guide, said to him, 'Be of good cheer; sometime 
you may see better conditions. Look up, and behold here, my 
child, one who comes to try to help you some.' And lo! it was 
he who had been my drunken husband. 

(a) "He looked at me in utter amazement, and finally said: 
'I wish 1 had known all as I now know. I would not have been 
deprived of wife and child all these years; and you would have 
had more help and a much less sorrowful life, and would not 
now be borne down by these dark and gloomy conditions/ 

(b) "The good woman said to me, 'My child, you are not 
able to endure this scene longer now. In a little while we will 
meet him again, and try to assist him and others out of their 
sad and lowly conditions.' " 

Dr. Chilesworth. (R. V., 2861-2870.) 

54. As the Washerwoman faded away, there appeared a 
spirit at the usual point for vocalization, whom the circle rec- 
ognized as Dr. Chilesworth, who, speaking in good oral tones, 
said : 

(a) "Telepathy is a very important subject, which, if bet- 
ter understood, would be of great benefit to the world. 

(&) "To a great degree, wires and poles might be dispensed 
with. Wireless telegraphy or telepathy needs two sensitives; 
one at each end of the line, and, of course, one at each station 
of the line. 

(c) "This subject is being investigated by many, and the 
conclusion is being gradually reached that spirit force conveys 
messages. But this kind of telegraphy or telepathy requires 
conditions: (1) One as before stated; (2) a second that the sen- 
sitives be in perfect constitutional and spiritual accord; (3) and 
a third condition is that the sensitives, at the time of passing 
the message, should be absolutely quiet; (4) that the sensitives, 
remitter and receiver, be sufficiently removed from thought- 
waves emanating from other minds; and (5) that the sensitives 
be sufficiently under control of an intelligent and honest band 
of spirits." (See R. V., 524 et seq.) 

The Star Circle Diagram. 

(58 d and E. V., 1567, 1568.) 

55. The most important event of this seance was a star 
circle diagram of fifteen spirit portraits, drawn on a periphery 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



37 



X 



4*S< 



w 



/ 



A 



>. 



\ 



STAR CIRCLE. 



-^[The original of this diagram was drawn 14x16 inches. The star and faces were set in 
clear white. Below the star and faces was the appearance of dark billowy, storm-troubled 
clouds. But careless curiosity so defaced the picture that it was impossible to reproduce 
it, except in a very crude manner.] 



38 BEYOND TEE VAIL. 

bounding a five-pointed star, three of the portraits between 
each two points of the star being portraits of men and women. 
The star and portraits are in the clear white light just above 
dark, storm-tossed clouds, and the portraits show development 
of a high degree of intellectuality in all of the subjects. 

(a) This diagram was drawn upon the paper while it was 
locked in the box, all of the circle alternately having their 
hands on the box while the spirit moved his hands over the 
box very rapidly, and in ten to fifteen minutes the work was 
complete. 



Continued Seance. 



Januarv 9, 1900. 



56. The prime object of this seance was for form recog- 
nition, which proved a brilliant success in materializations and 
vocalizing, both of men and women forms, mostly of modern 
American history, and some of the phenomena and vocaliza- 
tions are inserted. 



Lorenzo Aber 



57. The medium's father, said: "I am glad it is as w ; ell 
with my son William as it is. When he was yet a child I was 
made to see that it was appointed unto him to be an instrument 
in presenting this great light to the world of mankind; and, as 
I came near my transition, I expressed the thought that I could 
the more peacefully go on account of knowing that my boy 
would become enabled to more than fill my place in this great 
work. 

(a) "When I had fully realized the new birth and become 
assimilated to spirit life, my work began of providing ways, 
means, and conditions whereby, through this instrument, a 
book or books might be given to your world that should be of 
great assistance in dispelling the darkness of ignorance. I was 
led to see that much work was needed, and that I could be a 
great agent in bringing it out; and in it all I saw that at some 
time my son's name would be known round the wmole earth, 
amid the joyful acclaim of those called the unseen intelligences 
of the spirit world, and we are glad of the successful publica- 
tion of the work already out, and we begin the second one with 
hopeful confidence of equal success in it. But of the final great 
results of these works you, our friends and co-workers on earth, 
can little dream now, though, sometime, you will know. 

(b) "Tell my boy that sometime he will realize more fully 
his instrumentality in this work; and that his every real need 
always will be amply provided for; and that many things of 
his life, that now look strange to him, will be seen to have been 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 39 

necessary as the best that could be done for the ultimate suc- 
cess of our great undertaking. 

(c) "Tell him that as, at least, he must realize that he has 
ever been in the protecting care of a powerful and well-design- 
ing band of unseen forces, so he ever should feel secure in the 
full confidence that such a consort will never forsake him." 

Abraham Lincoln, 

58. In an oration that, for volume of voice and oratorical 
display, we have not known him to excel in any effort he ever 
made in all these seances of the past dozen years, said: 

(a) "Mr. Secretary, we want to thank you, sir, for the 
faithfulness with which you have worked on through all trials 
and every opposition, until you have seen the great work go to 
the world. 

(b) "Kind sir, we know that your labor has been done in 
the humble and simple hope that sometime, in some way, a suf- 
ficiency of good might grow out of it to compensate you for 
your work. We know that you little knew of the great final 
results, and that you have not yet tarried long enough in the 
prosecution of your part of the programme to behold and 
admire yourself in it, but only to hope the world thereby may 
be benefited. 

(c) "I want to tell you now that this work is greater and 
grander than you ever dreamed or surmised; and greater than 
you, even now, dare to think possible, and that while you re- 
main in the mortal you will see its beneficent influence grow 
in volume; but, however seemingly slow, it all the while will be 
gathering and spreading as a kindling fire; and, at last, mov- 
ing irresistibly onward, lighting up the dark night of ignorance 
and superstition; and its influence and all the intelligences 
connected with its production will surround it as a bright star 
in the spiritual universe above and beyond the dark billows of 
evolution's morning. 

(d) "Look at that grand picture on the wall, that star, 
that beautiful, that glorious star! See the glad immortals all 
around that bright star! See those storm-troubled clouds 
below it all. Study that picture on the wall. Our artist has 
done a grand similitude for you; and, as you all come up out 
of the tribulations of earth, that star will guide you through 
the gloom of the dark valley. (55.) What a consolation for let- 
ting your light shine on earth! 

(e) "Kind sir, some of us have been holding you many 
years for this work; and all of your active workers in your cir- 
cle have been gradnally drawn together by these, to you, here- 
tofore unseen forces. 



40 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

(/) "May the intelligences of spirit life that have been 
with you and over you all be able to so remain until the whole 
work be done. And I, sir, have been, though unknown to you, 
one of your assistants in working up our former book; and 
great as that is, we hope our forthcoming work will be greater, 
and that you will be spared to see it successfully launched 
upon the great ocean of human thought; and, as before, I am 
to remain with you to the end." 

Seance No. 7. 

January 11, 1900. 

59. Members of the circle all present, and Mrs. Charles 
Stewart, visitor. After reading secretary's report of the last 
regular seance and of the intervening one, the medium was 
seated in the cabinet and salutations of controls received as an 
opening exercise, and the minutes of secretary approved by the 
spirits as read. 

60. There came forth a form from the cabinet, which was 
at once recognized as that of 

Abraham Lincoln. 

(a) After some familiar salutations and personalities 
around the circle, this spirit, in very deliberative manner and 
in clear and distinct oral tones, somewhat resembling the 
spirit Thomas Paine's manner of oratory, said: 

(I) "My friends, it seems appointed unto me to now lay 
down premises for something that various spirits may be per- 
mitted to say from time to time, farther along, concerning mat- 
ters 'beyond the vail,' or practical life in the spirit spheres. 
I shall, therefore, premise by trying to repeat some of my 
historical experiences during my stay in what is called the 
earth-plane or mortal life. 

ic) "Then I tried to do all I could for the benefit of human- 
ity. I saw, to some degree, how the great mass of the earth's 
people were in the bondage of conditions that ought to be mod- 
ified in some way, in order that all people should have accorded 
unto them general privileges of natural resources and greater 
freedom in the exercise of their inalienable and equal rights to 
natural opportunities; hence my efforts were directed toward 
amelioration along these lines as far as I was able to see my 
way; but, in the midst of my endeavors, I was suddenly cut 
short of further efforts in the mortal. 

(d) "I had timely warning of impending danger, yet felt 
so certain that I was right, and doing right, that I heeded not 
the warning; and the next I knew I found myself on the spir- 
it side of life, among my old philanthropic friends gone be- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 41 

fore, who soon showed me that I yet had opportunity to satisfy 
my nature in helping those in need; and because of my adapta- 
bility in the field of philanthropy, I was at once shown much of 
the conditions beyond, and the higher intelligences escorted me 
to schools and scenes of advanced or higher spheres. And so, 
since coming here, I have tried to do all the good possible for 
me to do; and I find the harvest of earth life and conditions 
furnishes such a vast amount of ignorance that laborers are 
required over here to teach these ignorant and consequently 
darkened ones the right road of life. (R. V., 1551, 2184.) 

(e) "Already in my experiences in this school of labor I 
have met some strange cases. While a great many are glad of 
any assistance, and willing — even anxious, to obtain all possi- 
ble information, and such rapidly gain celestial heights. But 
others do not care to know, and, when approached, dismiss with 
sneers and jeers any proffered benefaction. Such we regret- 
fully pass by, hoping for a more favorable opportunity for us 
to approach them. 

if) "And yet others who move on a little from lower to 
higher, then drop back or slip back, to again take a step or 
two up the ladder, so that progress with such is very slow and 
tedious, requiring tact and patience in the teacher, which at 
last induces the pupil to move onward, until finally the light 
becomes so invitingly brilliant that the awakened pupil finds 
himself on the great highway of the eternal unfoldment of his 
innate but long-time dormant mental and spiritual energy. 

(g) "The very purpose of this great 'avatar' (61), as it were, 
of spirit return, and its revelations and teachings among mor- 
tals, is to counteract the effects of ignorance among the people 
of earth, as touching the great purposes of life in its relations 
to various conditions. I feel my form dissolving away, and 
must go now, but shall call again." And the spirit instantly 
disappeared. 

Avatar — Definition. 

61. This word "avatar," we are told, is a Hindoo word sig- 
nifying the "descent of the Deity in visible shape." But it 
would seem from modern investigation that what in the past 
has been thought or construed into Deific descent in visible bod- 
ily form is what is now known as spirit "materialization"; and 
that probably the original significance of the word "avatar" 
was of a spiritual dispensation in which human spirits were 
enabled to return to mortal sight in bodily form. (Secretary.) 



42 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Dr. J. B. Lamb. (R. V., 953, 957.) 

62. This spirit, following Lincoln, said: 

(a) "I have been asked by the controls here to make some 
remarks as touching my experiences; accordingly I am here. 

(&) "When I was on earth, in the war known to you as the 
War of the Rebellion, of course I was familiar with the earth 
lives of many of the soldiers in that war. Some of you know 
of the lingering illness that at last transferred me to this life. 
(Pulmonary tuberculosis.) 

(c) "In the earth life I was given to inquiry into the pur- 
poses of life, which disposition followed me; or, rather, as part 
of my being, was with me on entrance here, and soon fitted me 
for the work of teaching, and I was much attracted to look 
after the conditions of those who came up from the field of 
battle and the Army hospital. 

(d) "I find that many of those soldiers are in good condi- 
tion, bright, joyous, and happy. 

(e) "That, as many needed and yet need help, I became an 
educator in their needed assistance; and that, in trying to ele- 
vate others I have been wonderfully blest and prepared and per- 
mitted to enter higher spheres ; but I found, also, that my help 
was needed yet in the lower spheres, and thereby I would grow 
more rapidly in refinement of life to prepare me for brighter 
spheres and homes beyond. 

(/) "So, dear friends, 1 have found that many of the great 
and enlightened dwellers of higher spheres find their work 
in the lower spheres, and these, too, are they whom many 
of earth stigmatize as being low, designing, and mischievous 
spirits. 

(g) "But low, designing, and undeveloped spirits do not 
know the road back to mortal perception, until they are taught. 

Qi) "Advanced spirits find that ofttimes undeveloped spir- 
its need some experiences of earth life in order that they may 
advance the more rapidly; and hence escort such back to obtain 
the needed information and experience; and the advanced spir- 
its are they that open the way through sensitives. 

(i) "These advanced spirits have a double design in open- 
ing up this way of the communion of the saints: 

(j) "One to educate those spirits who are sent to spirit 
life in an ignorant condition; 

(k) "And the other to so educate the spirit before it leaves 
the mortal body that it will not need such education in the 
spirit life. 

(T) "Oh, how much eyen Spiritualists have yet to learn in 
regard to the designs and purposes and effects and law and par- 
ties of the great fact of spirit return! When it would seem 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 



43 



that anyone should know that it is essential for teachers of 
those in low spheres to belong to and be versed in the lore of 
the higher spheres beyond. 

(m) "Remember, dear friends, that the great highway 
from the lowest, leading to the highest and most refined and 
advanced conditions in the eternal spheres, is always open to 
the advanced traveler all the way back, and thus be induced to 
look within yourselves for the darkness you think you see in 
the spirits of this commuuion, who in reality are teachers, often 
of the highest attainments." 




DELLA COOK. 

Delia Cook. 



(1274.) 



63. Reed placed the box of portrait sketch paper on the 
arena table and unlocked the box. The spirit artist then took 
his position at the box and drew therefrom a sheet of the 



44 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

paper and sent it to the secretary, who held it to the bright 
light so that all the circle could see that there was no picture 
on that paper, and gave it back to the spirit at the box; the 
secretary holding on to one side of the paper, Mrs. Aber took 
hold of the opposite side, and the spirit's left hand holding 
the lower left-hand corner of the paper; it being now in hori- 
zontal position, six or eight inches above the box, the spirit, 
the secretary, Mrs. Aber, and the paper all clearly visible to 
the circle. In this condition the spirit raised his right hand 
over the paper and moved it rapidly about, some two inches 
above the paper. As the hand moved, the lines of the picture 
came on the paper, and thus, in as near one minute of time as 
we could determine, there was the finished bust portrait, life 
size. (See also R. V., 1126-1129, 2308, 2921.) 

64. Here the spirit Lorenzo Aber continued his written 
narrative, which the reader will find at paragraph 1161. 

Seance No. 8. 

January 14, 1900. 

65. At this seance Lorenzo Aber finished his written nar- 
rative, to be found at paragraph 1164. 

Grace the Suicide. (1166.) 

66. And now there comes out of the cabinef a form in the 
similitude of a woman neatly dressed in the common style of 
American women, the garments being made of white pongee, 
and begins a written narrative of her disappointed life on earth, 
that ended by suicide, and of her first conditions in spirit life, 
which writing the reader will find at paragraph 1166 a. 

(a) This Grace, after having written at the arena table 
and placed her writing, which she had torn from the tablet, and 
the tablet down on the table, walked over to the southeast 
corner of the cabinet and said in a whisper: 

(o) "I withhold my name for the reason you will find 
stated in the writing; but when you are done with the earth 
life you will find me and who I am, for I shall meet you as you 
come over here, and reveal myself to you, and then you will 
know." 

67. The spirit William Denton stood before the circle in 
its view, and so standing, did in good oral tones thus say: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. I am glad of the interest you 
all manifest in this good work. 

(jb) "If those in darkness could understand concerning 
Spiritualism and the nature of future life as you do, they might 
all be as you, or as you ought to be. For if you are not in a 
happy and peaceful condition, it is your own fault. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 45 

(c) "You ought to be happy in the knowledge of this 
greatest of all truth. 

(d) "This knowledge ought to make beautiful and lovely 
to you the beautiful atmosphere of your earth. More sweet and 
delightful should be the blooming of flowers and the melody of 
the birds of song. 

(e) "Happy that your loved ones can and do voice back to 
you of the richer and grander beauty of their eternal homes, 
for such beauty will also shortly be yours to enjoy. 

(f) "Happy for the grand and noble work you are thus 
enabled to do here for yourselves and for the yearning of the 
people elsewhere. 

(g) "You know I was radical in the proclamation of my 
views. While I knew Spiritualism to be true, I was rather over- 
anxious to directly promulgate it among the people; but I soon 
found the great obstacle of ignorance and then began to search 
for an appropriate and efficacious starting-point to remove the 
great dark night of ignorance, as my efforts at relating facts 
did little toward removing the obstacles. But now I find, as 
this work goes on, the mud and scum are passing away. 

68. "This lady Grace that is writing here for you to-night, 
although a very beautiful lady and to a great degree accom- 
plished, as you of earth would account accomplishments, yet 
she needs help to ascend to higher and brighter and more beau- 
tiful conditions, and we are helping her along the way, and per 
mit or, rather, invite her to give to your world, for the contem- 
plation and consequent benefit of many who may be permitted 
to hear of her checkered career. This exercise brightens and 
strengthens her own spiritual capacity of appreciation. 

(a) "Although she is not well versed in making such nar 
rative, with our aid we feel assured she will succeed; and by 
and by you will know that you this night, in your meeting here, 
are giving some of those beyond an opportunity to help them- 
selves along and up the eternal highway of the soul. And when 
you will have reached these shining heights, this beautiful 
woman will be ready and anxious to thank you for this great 
opportunity you are now giving to her." 

Bohert G. Ingersoll. 

69. Comes now a spirit form, standing out on the floor in 
front of the circle, and addresses the secretary, saying: 

(a) "How do you do, sir?" 

Secretary: "Fairly well, so far as I know; and how is it 
with yourself?" 

Spirit: "This is a fair country where I am now, and I am 
fast becoming assimilated and reconciled to my new conditions. 



46 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

(fy "Do you recognize my voice, Mr. Secretary?" 

(c) Secretary: "No, sir. "Your form is not so clear in ex- 
pression nor your vocalization so clearly articulate as that I 
can identify you in that way. But if you go right on with your 
discourse, perhaps I shall be able to know you by what you 
may say." 

(d) Spirit: "Well, sir, to proceed: I may say that I did 
know this much of Spiritualism, that there were certain phe- 
nomena not accounted for; but so sure was I that at some time 
it would all be accounted for independently of any spiritual 
basis that I did not care to be at the pains to know. Now, of 
course, I do know, but am not able in this way to articulate 
well, nor to hold my form long at a time through which to 
reach you; I must, therefore, defer relating at any great length 
my experiences during my short staj 7 in spirit life. 

(e) "I may say, however, that had I known the truth even 
as I now know it, I would have spoken differently. 

(/) "I did not wish to endorse Spirititualism, as an inves- 
tigation might have compelled me to do; but I thought I could 
do more good otherwise. 

(g) "I am here now and I am here to stay and to work. 

(h) "Now I realize that future life is a fact and that it is 
eternal. I realize, too, that spirit life or the spirit land, as 
some call it, is more grand than any condition of earth life. 
It is a better land than any land of earth can possibly be; and 
I am now glad that it is real and I feel so glad to be here. And 
I hope to meet you as you come to this side of life. 

(t) "I cannot yet speak as I used to, but hope to be able 
before long to give you a lengthy discourse, though perhaps I 
could better express myself to you in writing. 

(j) "Already during my short stay here I have met many 
dark spirits as well as also many bright ones. 

(h) "I was not, in general, an investigator while in the 
mortal, but knew theological or orthodox Christianity to be a 
mere myth. I did all I could in my way to enlighten the people." 

The spirit had not proceeded far in his talk until the circle 
clearly recognized him as Colonel E. G. Ingersoll. 

70. Sam, to the question, "How do you folks over there 
travel?' said: 

(a) "Well, sometimes we walk, the same as you do. Then, 
again, we float about in spirit ether, our desires being the pro- 
pelling power, the very thought fixes a magnetic point of attrac- 
tion at the destination that leads us thither." 

Seance No. 9. 

January 18, 1900. 

71. Mrs. Steward yet attending. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 47 



Grace 



72. Continues her written narrative. (See paragraph 1168.) 

73. There being a small-pox scare in town, the irrepressi- 
ble Irishman, Daniel O'Brien, rushed out of the cabinet, seized 
the trumpet, as is his fashion, began and carried on a running 
sarcasm of the small-pox scare, and so ran out his gleeful Irish 
brogue as to upset all the dignity of the circle, and turn it into 
a complete round of merriment for the time, but this episode 
left the monotony all broken up and the most brilliant phenom- 
ena followed. 

Professor Denton, 

74. Standing forth, fully clothed upon in temporary body, 
gave us, in his best oral style, a sample of his beneficent work 
during the past two years, speaking thus: 

(a) "I am pleased to be with this faithful band here to- 
night. I cannot, however, remain long at this time, and must 
make good use of the opportunity. 

(b) "I have been thinking it would be well for me to relate 
a case that will illustrate some of my work since we closed our 
former work here. 

(c) "I met a spirit whose nature assigned to him the pleas- 
ing task of receiving newborn spirits and helping them up to 
an highway whereon no 'lion's whelp' may be found. This good 
spirit related to me an incident occurring in a great city in 
which he needed some assistance to lead four newborn souls 
to a realization of their new relations to life, and asked me to 
go with him and contemplate the scene and give a helping hand 
toward needed relief. 

(d) "I gladly went to the described locality in a city where 
abounded many whose business it is to profess to preach the 
truth of the condition 'beyond the vail' for pay, and my good 
friend led me on to behold three children clinging to the decay- 
ing body of the mother. These three children were aged, re 
spectively, twelve, eight, and four years. 

74-J. "These spirits could not realize that they were out of 
their bodies, having never been taught the truth of the 'second 
birth.' They, of so-called death, were as ignorant as the preach- 
ers, and refused to listen to the invitation of their dear friend 
on this side. 

(a) "Oh, how it pained me to contemplate the brazen ef- 
frontery of the preachers in refusing themselves to learn and 
know the truth! And weak humanity, trusting to their claims 
of knowledge and wisdom concerning spiritual things, are cast 
into spirit life absolutely ignorant of all that pertains thereto. 



48 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(h) "The one who had invited me there asked me to see 
what I could do in this sad case. I approached the least child 
with some attractive specimens of beauty, and finally led it 
away to a beautiful stream, showing it the beauties along the 
way that such a child would admire. And when we stood at the 
stream, I had it listen, and it heard, approaching, sweet music 
on the opposite side; and, presently, over on that side were 
great numbers of beautiful spirits and beautiful things, and the 
little child wanted to cross that stream to those beauties across 
the way. And I said, 'Let us go back for mamma and brother 
and sister and bring them to this beautiful stream, and we will 
all go across to those beautiful people over there. 

(c) "We went back and the others believed her little story 
of what she had seen, and they all followed me on to the beau- 
tiful stream, and they crossed over that stream, and, oh, the 
glad, glad meeting! The happy, happy meeting! No pen nor 
angelic tongue can explain to you mortals the delights, the 
thrilling joys of such a meeting of earth-worn pilgrims with 
the glorious and all-radiant hosts above." 

Brick Pomeroy. 

75. A spirit, whom the circle knew not, stood to view of the 
circle and in clear, distinct oral speech said: 

(a) "Well, my friends, I am glad to be here to-night. I 
presume you hardly know me." 

(&) Secretary: "Well, sir, I don't remember that 1 ever 
met you, here or elsewhere, but I would be glad to form your 
acquaintance." 

(c) Spirit: "Yes, sir. I never called this way before; and 
when I tell you that I am Brick Pomeroy, some of you may 
remember me, and all of you may know something about me." 

(d) Miss Cook: "I did not know that Brick Pomeroy is 
dead." 

(e) Spirit: "Nor I either. In fact, I am as much alive as 
ever I was." 

75. Mrs. Steward: "Mr. Pomeroy, do you remember your 
visit to our house at one time in Denver ?" 

(a) Spirit: "Most certainly T do." 

(b) Mrs. Steward: "And four ministers of the M. E. were 
at our house at the dinner-table and someone remarked of the 
great revival going on, and you answered, 'If anybody should 
ever go to hell, the preachers would head the list down to 
gehenna'?" 

(c) Spirit: "Oh, yes. I know all about that, and when I 
found our dinner party were mostly preachers, I stuck to it, 
but I was radical then, and 1 guess I am radical now, but along 
somewhat different lines." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 49 

E. S. Edwards. 

76. A spirit then said, "I am here to let them know that 
I am here and can come. I am E. S. Edwards. 

(a) "Mr. Secretary, please tell my wife that I was here. 
She and her sister will soon be at rest over here." (See para- 
graph 395.) 

Wesley AJoev. 

11. This spirit is brother to the medium. His vocalization 
is strong, vigorous, and eloquent; in manner of utterance much 
like the spirit Thomas Paine, and on this occasion said: 

(a) "Friends, I am glad the work goes on. I am glad, too, 
that you take such interest in it, for this work will go on so 
long as the world stands. There are those taking interest in it 
of whom you know not. Then there are those who look this 
way and then look back. The progress of those who look both 
ways is necessarily slow. 

(&) "It may seem to some of you that you have many and 
hard trials; but could you see the many trials, the misery in 
the lower spheres of those who lived lowly lives, you could then 
see the great chance for work over here and the need of it on 
your side. 

(c) "I have been here thirty years, and I have never been 
idle one moment for want of work. I was a Spiritualist before 
I came, which made me some preparation for the change. 

(d) "Soon after my transition I met one whom I loved, and 
she has accompanied me wherever I have gone. We are trying 
to bring those of lowly and darkened estate into the light; and 
Brother Denton, as noble here as on earth, has just told you of 
some of our work here. I must go now." 

Mamie Olney. 

78. Dressed in pure white garments, there came out of the 
cabinet a lady form of rather low stature, and moved about, to 
and fro on the carpet, in front of the circle; and the circle finally 
clearly recognized this form as Mamie Olney, a young lady who 
in the physical life had been known more or less familiarly to 
all the circle, and who for the greater portion of her life was 
an invalid, but had a strong mind of literary inclination along 
religious lines, and was somewhat poetical, and was beginning 
to exhibit talent as a writer along such lines of thought, but at 
the age just entering womanhood "the silver cord was loosed." 

(a) Notwithstanding that she and her people lived what is 
considered a consistent, faithful, Christian life as Presbyterians, 
her people are so disconsolate, even at twelve months from 

BV 4 



50 BETOND THE TAIL. 

Mamie's transition, as to refuse to be comforted, making almost 
daily visits to the tomb of Mamie's castaway body, to weep and 
bedeck the grave with flowers; and on this day, as some of the 
circle were on their way to this seance, they met some of these 
disconsolate ones going with flowers to the tomb where Mamie's 
body lies, but Mamie is not in that grave. Mamie has on her 
beautiful resurrection garments, and because she is not per- 
mitted by her people to be seen in her old earthly home, she 
comes to us; and in a good, clear whisper says: 

(b) "This is Mamie Olney. You know I have not been here 
a great while. I thought before I crossed to this side that this 
might be the truth, though I said but little about it. Of course, 
as you here know, I am the same Mamie that I always was, save 
that I am not an invalid now. 

(c) "I seem to be living in such a beautiful morning. Flow- 
ers, more beautiful than your world affords, are here and seem 
to be perennial. I wish my papa could be induced to know of 
this glorious light you have here. My good papa is thinking 
that he hopes it is true. And I hope he soon will take some 
interest in this way that alone can give him satisfactory conso- 
lation in the truth of conscious immortal life." 

Walter Aber. 

79. "I also am a brother to the medium, and I am glad to 
come to your hearing and visibility in this way. I was not, and 
am not yet, as well known as others, but I hope to be able, 
after awhile, to make you a little talk that may be of some 
interest." 

Joe Rowe. 

80. Here comes to view a spirit whom the circle had not 
seen since in spirit life, but he was known to some of the cir- 
cle several years ago, and his tragic departure from this life 
was peculiar and heralded by the newspapers so as to make 
him fresh in the memory of all the circle, so soon as he began 
to talk of the incident. He said: 

(a) "Friends, this is a little strange to me. I am Joe Eowe. 
I got killed, you know, down at Paola, on the railroad. I took 
too much whisky and got into my wagon and laid down in it, 
and my team had things their own way. 

{b) "A railroad train disputed their right of way, and you 
ought to have seen that wagon-box go up when the engine hit 
it, and that is how I went up. Not by a whirlwind or cyclone, 
but I was translated by a locomotive from a country of bad 
whisky to where prohibition is better enforced than in Kansas, 
and I am beginning to improve and understand myself, and I 
am glad I am away from such whisky. Good-night." 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 51 

Bessie. (See R. V., 1164-5.) 

81. On this occasion this little sprite, standing in the cab- 
inet door, in stature about as a common little girl of the age 
of five years, said: 

(a) "Howdy doo, foltses, Untie Pratt, Auntie Pratt," — and 
so all round the circle, and then said: "The doctor told me I 
might turn a yittie while and tell you foltses about what I does. 
I never was born, only into the spirit world. 1 left your world 
before I was born into it. 1 never had the bad influences of 
earth and was spiritually pure and could be trained easily to 
visit higher spirits, although for my own good I needed the 
experiences of earth, so I have been trained by this band of 
spirits here, assisted by higher spirits to visit the higher 
spheres and convey messages from and to the spirits in higher 
spheres for the benefit of spirits in lower and intermediate 
spheres. 

(b) "So I am such messenger for this band and often bear 
messages of inquiry from Dr. Eeed or Sam or any or all of the 
band to higher spirits, and they transmit messages in answer, 
by me, back here, to these controls; so you see, Untie Nitson, I 
have lots of errands to do to teep me wight busy all de time. 
Dood-night." 

Alice House, 

82. The crowning work of this seance was the production 
of the portrait, life size, of which this is a reduced copy, and 
recognized by C. V. N. House as a good likeness of his deceased 
daughter Alice, under test conditions. 

(a) When the time came therefor, the artist asked for and 
obtained the key of the box of sketch paper, unlocked and 
opened the box, took out a sheet, handed it to the secretary, 
who spread the sheet of paper out so that all the circle did see, 
and all expressed themselves entirely sure that both sides of 
the sheet of paper were entirely clean. Then the artist, who 
had been standing at the arena table, and in sight of the cir- 
cle all the time after opening the box, took the paper, invited 
Mr. House to hold the side of the paper to right hand of the 
spirit and Mrs. Aber to hold the upper left corner of the paper, 
while the spirit, with his left hand, held the lower end of the 
paper so that Mr. House, Mrs. Aber, the spirit artist, and the 
upper side of the paper were all visible to the entire circle, and 
all could see the paper to be entirely clean yet. 

Now the spirit raises his right hand over the paper, which 
is in nearly horizontal position and some eight inches above the 
table, and the spirit moves his hand quite rapidly over the 
paper; and, as the hand moves, lines come upon the paper and 



52 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



the portrait is developed rapidly until the outline of the por- 
trait is complete, and now the spirit seems to blow his breath 
over the paper and the filling and background thus came on, 
and now, at the end of nearly one minute from the time the 
spirit's hand first began to move over the paper, the picture is 
finished, the spirit vanished, and the circle, in amazement, scru- 
tinizing the portrait. 




ALICE HOUSE. 

Seance No. 10. 
Grace 



(82.) 



January 21, 1900. 



83. Continued her written narrative, but first she said: 
"If my writing is not satisfactory to you, I had better not 
continue." 

The circle, however, assured her that her efforts so far are 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 53 

entirely satisfactory, whereupon the spirit picked up a tablet 
from the arena table and proceeded with her written experi- 
ence, found at paragraph 1170. 

Professor Wm. Denton. 

84. So soon as Grace had written and was gone away, this 
spirit Denton took his position at the usual place for vocaliza- 
tion, at the south side of the room, between the secretary and 
southeast corner of cabinet, and facing the circle toward the 
north, and so situated, said: 

(a) "Friends, I am glad to meet you again, but sorry some 
are not so well. But old age will not affect you in the spirit 
world. When you are done with the earth life and that old 
worn-out body, and have reached our side of life, you'll feel 
young as when you were children; old age and the toils of life 
on earth all gone in exchange for one glorious morning of per- 
petual youth. You will look back and see that all your suffer- 
ing has been but to make you feel more joyous and youthful in 
beholding the contrast. 

(b) "It may seem to you difficult for us to thus come to 
you; but, my dear, good friends, we cannot come at all unless 
you furnish conditions. Had it not been for conditions you fur- 
nished us, we could not have given you the work we have." Here 
the secretary made some movement that displaced a screen and 
suddenly allowed a ray of white light to fall on the form, which 
immediately dissolved the form. 

85. Wesley Aber immediately stood at the place before 
described, where most vocalizing, is done at this series of 
seances, saying: 

(a) "I am glad to come again. I may be able to stay awhile, 
but conditions vary so much that we may not be able to say 
much to-night." And here a beam of strong white light by acci- 
dent fell on this form, and it dissolved away; but the spirit re- 
formed presently, and continued in an undertone, though dis- 
tinct utterance, on musical effects, saying: 

(b) "That music, do you hear it? Listen to that sweet, 
sweet music! Can't you hear it? Oh, what rapturous, delight- 
ful music, no mortal ever knew! W T ell, dear friends, you all will 
hear it. 

(c) "As- 1 passed those gates — those beautiful gates, into 
eternal morning, I could hear those soft, sweet, musical ca- 
dences, and I asked, 'Where is that rich, sweet music? Such I 
had never before heard. It touched my very soul, so many 
voices singing that song — the sweet, sweet song! It seemed 
my very soul was on fire of rapturous delight! Oh, if you only 
could hear it, you would think it fine. You think you have 



54 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

music rich and sweet, and so you have, that which is, even to 
us, exceedingly sweet music. But our music, so sweet, so heart- 
softening! 

{d) "The lowly ones can hear that music, but it is far away 
to them. 

(e) "Those of us more favored can be close up to those 
sweet singers of the eternal spheres, and when you get to this 
side, you, too, can be near to the heavenly choristers. 

(/) "That little child out there [little Goldie Evans in the 
circle] will be a sweet musician here, for the little ones of earth, 
crossing to our side, help to swell the glad anthems of eternal 
symphony. Do you think that little one, that little angel, would 
go down to hell for not listening to or for not being able to 
repeat the formulas of some human creed? Oh, no; such are 
in the midst of the celestial choirs, and their little souls swell 
out in sweetest, richest strains of the harmonious melodies of 
the enduring spheres. This little one will never forget the 
angels. So, friends, care for the little ones everywhere." 

Question for Sam. 

86. "If we send out our good thoughts toward the spirits 
not present, do they reach the absent spirits? And if so, how?" 

(a) Sam: "Your thoughts produce wave motions and your 
guardians gather the waves or their significance, and pass them 
on to the desired recipient." 

Brilliant Phenomena. 

87. This evening, too, the lady materializations came out 
of the cabinet between orations and other exercises, clothed 
upon in unusually brilliant and gorgeous attire, the principal 
garments being of the clearest white, some of them having the 
appearance of glittering diamonds woven all through the dress 
skirts and waistbands, bracelets, and necklaces, and coronals 
of glittering diamonds and jewels woven into the headdress, re- 
flecting or radiating the appearance of stars. 

(a) Especially was this manifest in the case of Grace while 
she stood before the circle, making her writing of this evening. 

(&) As these lady forms of different sizes, differently jew- 
eled raiment, and in different manners, paraded over the carpet 
in front of the circle, there was such a brilliant and beautiful 
display of gorgeous attire as can only be realized by actual 
sight. 

One Beginning to Teach. 

88. One of those promenading about the room stopped at 
a point near to the secretary; and, in a good, strong whisper, 
heard by all of the circle, addressed him thus: 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 55 

(a) "Kind sir, I am permitted to speak a word here, now. 
During my stay in spirit life, I have learned and advanced much. 

(b) "For my own benefit, as well as for the benefit of my 
pupils, I have been assigned the duty of teaching such as my 
abilities were qualified to benefit. I have been among the lowly 
and ignorant, and been instrumental in leading them on their 
way. And I find my assignment to be a pleasing task, just 
suited to satisfy many of my soul longings. And I begin to be 
able to impart instructions to more advanced spirits, to still 
greater delight of my adaptations. And, oh, the thrilling joys 
to me, as I behold the grateful souls that I have helped from 
the regions of iguorance, prejudice, and darkness, toward the 
glorious light of intelligent day!" 

And the spirit was gone away. And, behold, there was 
standing in the cabinet doorway, holding the curtains parted, a 
materialization at once recognized by the circle as 

Abraham Lincoln, 

89. Saying, in his deliberative and sympathetic manner: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. I am glad to welcome you to 
our presence again; and should you remain true to the trust 
imposed, I can see the way to welcome you to our own immor- 
tal homes when you are done with your earth homes. 

(b) "Good friends, I am here to advise you to keep on as 
now, and soon the prize of an high calling will be yours amid 
the outspread welcomings of myriads of glad immortals. 

(c) "It does make us sad to see the distress and poverty 
of so many of those of your earth, and we not able to make it 
otherwise. 

(d) "We have, however, one consolation: when you reach 
this side, your poverty in want of earthly possessions is no 
more. Your day's work is done, so far as that world is con- 
cerned, and as you will then look back on the hunger and pov- 
erty and distress of past conditions, and of those lingering along 
the way below, you begin to progress here, in the very hope to 
be able to help to change conditions, some time, so that there 
may be more amelioration; and, learning that there is a law 
that great soul growth and appreciation cometh out of great 
tribulation, we can rest the more content that we can ultimate- 
ly assist the seemingly unfortunate to the glorious heights 
beyond. 

(e) "And this great reward is ours in the unselfish labor of 
teaching those in need of the effulgence of our higher attain- 
ments; for in this world eternal supreme felicity consists in 
resultants of the unselfish division of our best attainments and 
accumulations of ever-filled spiritual granaries with those hun- 



56 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

gering for such bread of life, and in this the great and only 
atonement and harmonious assimilation of ourselves to the 
peaceful vibrations of endless felicity. But I hope to be here 
again." And the curtains closed in front of the spirit, and Lin- 
coln had gone away. 

The Dawning. 

90\ A wandering one beginning to recognize the light. 

(a) This portrait illustration was executed under rather 
extraordinary test conditions, on this wise: 

The spirit artist gathered up the box containing the sketch 
paper, placed it on the arena table, then took it from the arena 
table through the cabinet to the secretary, where the entire 
circle could see the box as the spirit heJd it up for that purpose. 
Then the spirit took the box back to the arena table, placed it 
thereon, opened the box, took two sheets of the sketch paper 
out of the box, had the secretary go to the arena table, take 
one of the sheets of paper from the spirit's hands and present 
the same in view of the whole circle for inspection, and the 
members of the circle all saw and declared the paper to be abso- 
lutely clean of any portrait or diagram or perceivable marks of 
crayon, pencil, or any coloring matter whatever. In the mean- 
time, the spirit placed the other sheet of paper back into the 
box and closed the box lid down over it. Then the v secretary 
took the paper that the circle had just inspected to the spirit 
at the arena table. The secretary at the right of the spirit held 
the paper, one corner in the left hand and another in the right 
hand; the spirit with his left hand took hold of the left-hand 
corner of the end of the paper next the spirit, and Mrs. Aber 
held the left-hand corner of the end of the paper opposite the 
spirit; the paper is now in nearly a horizontal position, and 
some eight inches above the box, the secretary and Mrs. Aber 
opposite and facing each other, the spirit facing the circle, look- 
ing across the paper between the secretary and Mrs. Aber. The 
circle could see the paper, and the spirit as well, as also they 
could clearly see the secretary and Mrs. Aber. Now in this posi- 
tion the spirit took crayon pencil in its right hand and moved 
that hand somewhat rapidly over the paper as any artist would 
for drawing until the central figure was complete, and here the 
whole circle was shown the stage of the work, all being satis- 
fied. Then the spirit stooped over the paper and blew on it as 
a Chinese laundryman sprinkles clothing for ironing, and that 
blowing of the spirit resulted in the instant appearance of the 
clouds on the illustration. The whole time from first appear- 
ance of the artist to completion of the illustration was not so> 
much as five minutes. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



57 




THE DAWNING. 



(90.) 



58 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Prophecy. 

91. At a seance January 23, 1900, Sam, speaking of his 
weather forecast of 1890, in which he foreshadowed the great 
drouth of 1894, said: "You may not have much rain for a long 
time, perhaps not during the entire coming summer in great 
portions of your country. This year, 1900, will be marked by sui- 
cides, insanity, and casualties and labor troubles and national 
troubles to a much greater degree than usual." 

(a) In January, 1890, Sam said to Mr. Pratt : "Do you know 
how that a spirit such as I can look right through your bodies? 
We can see the bones and everything composing your bodies 
just as well while the bones are in the body as you can when 
the flesh is removed? 

(b) "Before long the doctors and scientists of your earth 
will be able to see every part inside the body, the bones and 
nerves, and all by means of an invention that will be made." 
This prophecy was uttered some five months before beginning 
the work of the book, "Rending the Vail." Since that we have 
the wonders of the X-ray. 

(c) In "Rending the Vail" there is a statement by this sci- 
entific band that natural gas abounds here in paying quantities. 

92. But no one heeded the matter sufficiently to start the 
drill then. But in 1898, at a point one-fourth v mile from the 
seance-room, the drill went down by a prospecting company, 
and at nearly 800 feet depth tapped a great reservoir of gas; 
and this little town has been lighted from that well for nearly 
two years. 

(a) One mile north of this well the drill went down again, 
and at 900 feet below the surface struck an abundant flow of 
gas, having great pressure. 

(b) The same company drilled several holes on the line 
from Osawatomie to this place, a distance of over fifteen miles, 
and found no gas in paving quantities until thev reached Spring 
Hill. 

(c) This compauy went on prospecting to the north and 
northeast of this to a distance from here of about ten miles and 
found no gas save these two wells. 

(d) This whole region over which this prospective search 
was made has practically the same geological and topographical 
surface appearance. Hence the scientist had not located gas 
at Spring Hill. 

(e) Therefore we may fairly conclude that not from any 
scientific knowledge of mortals in connection with the circle, 
nor upon the basis of accident or mere guessing, but of some 
psychic intelligence independent of the circle; or, at the least, 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 59 

by an excellent specimen of clairvoyance, was the statement 
made. 

(f) Wireless telegraphy a success here, June 4 and June 
11, 1891. (See R. V., pages 101, 107, and 108.) 

Seance No, 11. 

January 25, 1900. 

Grace 

93. Continues her writing, ''Leaving the Old Home For- 
ever and The Awful Revelation." (1172.) 

Ether ealizations. 

94. This seance also presents the circle with most brilliant 
chemical experiments in etherealization — that is, materializa- 
tions visible in complete darkness or self-luminous forms. 

(a) One of these claimed to be an Indian spirit that was 
called "White Horse" by his tribe. His display of feathery 
headgear was very clear and brilliant. He could vocalize a lit- 
tle. In very broken English, he said: "Redskin White Horse, 
come here from happy hunting-ground. Heap help paleface get 
book. Heap Indian help paleface get book. Now White Horse 
go back happy hunting-ground." And this Indian was gone, fol- 
lowed by several others consecutively in richest display. 

(o) Three women forms in brilliant white and shining coun- 
tenances, one after another came to self-luminous view, almost 
dazzling, one of them in headdress sparkling as of glittering 
jewels. 

95. And little Nellie in blue and white, the blue being of 
appearance as though strung with diamonds glittering in bright 
light, although the room was in total darkness at the time. 

(a) Here is a phase of chemistry not yet understood by 
some mortals, anyway. 

96. Now the lights are turned up again; the rich display of 
etherealizations had produced a condition of solemnity and 
silent thought that made the circle too positive; and to break 
up the monotony and positive condition, the managing controls 
sent the jolly Irishman, Daniel O'Brien, out in full form, who 
seized the trumpet, and, in exceedingly loud and clear vocal 
tones, through the trumpet, engaged at repartee with all the 
circle in such jolly Irish style as would make the most stoic 
Indian brave laugh. 

97. This spirit said: "Dr. Rade in there (pointing to the 
cabinet) told me to come out here and stir up your mirthful- 
ness a little, jist, so as to start magnetism out of your brains 
for thim in making up forms and to open the way to yourselves 
[into yourselves] for thim to get at yese. 



60 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

(a) "Well, I must go now, I guess; the doctor [spirit Reed] 
tells me to stay a minute or two to wake yese oop, and, say, 
Mr. Pratt, be ye waked oop? How do you do, anyway?" 

Pratt: "Oh, pretty well, Daniel." 

Spirit: "Oi'm glad to hear that." 

Lady: "Say, Mr. O'Brien, were you a Catholic?" 

Spirit: "No, no, good lady. Oi jist told you Oi was 
agnastic." 

(&) Secretary: "Agnostic?" 

Spirit: "Yis, yis, surr; thank yese, Mr. Secretary. A-g- 
n-a-u-s-t-i-c. That 's it, Oi do' know. Well, good-night. May be 
Oi '11 coom agin. Oi do so love to laugh, too. Ha, ha, ha!" And 
O'Brien went laughing into the cabinet. 

98. Denton, coming out of the cabinet, met and passed 
O'Brien, and when at the point the yocalizers usually occupy for 
speaking, said: 

(a) "No harm, friends, to have a little merriment some- 
times. We had to get him here and have him come out among 
you to keep the circle in good trim. 

(&) "Mr. Secretary, I wish to have you send that man, Mr. 
G. L. Jones, of Shell Lake, Wisconsin, our kind regards for his 
manhood in declaring in his paper to his patrons his honest con- 
victions and opinions with regard to our book just published. 
Tell him that when his work is faithfully done on earth, we will 
gladly welcome him here. 

(c) "Mr. Secretary, as you know, I was active and conspic- 
uous in bringing that book out, and it might seem to some that 
I should keep quiet about this second work, and not to be too 
frequently seen on the streets ; nevertheless it may not be amiss 
that I do appear, to some extent, in the new book, and I hope 
what I may say may be of interest to you and to the world, so 
I am with you again. 

99. "Mr. Secretary, have you any question for me that I 
may consider for a moment?" 

Secretary: "In some experience given here the other even- 
ing, it was said that an undeveloped spirit was found sitting 
upon a rock. Now some reader may wish to know whether that 
rock was a material rock of the earth or some counterpart in 
spirit life?" 

100. Spirit Denton ; "We have often told you and tell you 
now that your earth and all things of your earth have their 
exact counterparts in the great spirit world, just as real, just 
as tangible, just as substantial to the inhabitants of the spirit 
world as ever the earth and material things and forms thereof 
are to the inhabitants in mortal form upon your earth. 

(a) "Many, on leaving the mortal body, are still in earthly 
conditions, found on the grosser spiritual side, you may call the 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 6L 

lower sphere — where the spiritual senses are not yet awakened 
to susceptibility of spiritual discernment; but this whole mat- 
ter will be amply illustrated farther on." Here the spirit re- 
tired while some other spirits occupied the time, and then con- 
tinued, saying: 

Great Meetings Vast Assemblages, 

101 "Do you ever ask, 'Do spirits live in houses and have 
auditoriums and assemblages and all such like?' 

(a) "Yes, we have in spirit all that you have on earth, and 
we have more. Spirits have been telling you all these years 
concerning these things; but they are so far from your percep- 
tions that it is necessary for us to continually repeat it. 

(b) "We have our great meetings, our vast assemblies, 
our meeting-houses, our grand assembly halls. Our meetings, 
our assemblies are not as yours: for political or religious wrang- 
ling. Not for the purpose of devising ways and means whereby 
one people may rob and plunder another. 

(c) "Our meetings are for the purpose of our own good and 
for the purpose of devising ways and means whereby all be- 
low us may be brought up to our light, to our homes, to our 
achievements. 

(d) "The emissaries of our meetings are dispatched to the 
hedges and byways with food and raiment and wedding gar- 
ments to fully clothe and prepare the poor and lowly for the 
great associations and wedding feasts, as it were, of our vast 
deliberative assemblies. 

(e) "And by these heralds our purposes are known, not by 
circulars, not by flaming hand-bills to come, rain or shine, but 
the innate desire to help on the great work of eternal evolution 
from the most unfortunate conditions prompts the great spirit 
of philanthropy to hunt up, and be at, and help along the swell- 
ing symphonies with the great question, 'What good can 1 do? 
And I will do it.' 

(/) "The credentials to our assemblies read: 'My selfish- 
ness is all gone.' 

(g) "Seal: 'As my works attest.' 

(h) "Therefore our meetings are harmonious, though indi- 
vidual opinions may somewhat differ. One great purpose of 
even the highest assembly I have attended has been to give 
light to your world, as well as to assist all who are in darkness 
to reach the light. 

102. "I met a man who had been assisted. out of darkness 
by some of our assembly heralds, and finally admitted to the 
assembly. 

(a) "He said, 'If I had only been here at first!' 

(b) "But, no; his earthly training had been toward selfish- 



62 BEYOND TEE TAIL. 

ness, in aggrandizement of wealth and power, and his transition 
found him in absolute darkness and deepest gloom; and by the 
help of the good evangels, he had been prepared at last for this 
glorious association. And many, indeed, there are as low as 
this one was, not in hell, but in darkness ; and some come to you 
for light." 

(c) Mr. and Mrs. House: "Yes, Professor, we know that 
they come to our house for help, and we assist them what we 
can, and they seem thankful." 

(d) Denton: "Yes, tell them the way. It helps them and 
helps you. Oh, how bitterly some of those poor souls weep for 
their darkened conditions! But it is their fate until they are 
helped up. 

(e) "So, dear friends, help the lowly everywhere. Direct 
them to the light. But some do not want instruction, and will 
not condescend to ask or receive it until they find there is no 
other way. Then, after all else fails them, they come and listen 
to us; and they, many of them, go to you. 

if) "Help them, help them, dear friends; for so much as 
you help them is bread upon the waters for you, is so much of 
your own record that will at last be a coronal jewel in token 
of your own eternal reward. It would be hell indeed to us if 
we did not know that beyond the poor souls would see the 
light." 

103. A spirit whom the circle did not recognize said: 

"I am John Pickerel. I did not have a very hard time of it 
in getting on over here, yet it might have been much better for 
me than it was. Although I was something of a Spiritualist, I 
was not the kind 1 should have been. I would go to the meet- 
ings, but would make sport of the whole matter. That was 
against me. I am trying to get up into better conditions. And, 
finding some in worse situation than I am, I help them along; 
and that makes me grow into brighter light." 

Henry Ward Beecher. 

104. A spirit stood forth and began to talk in somewhat 
undertone, and with difficulty at first, but improved as he talked 
on, until he had good oral speech, but the voice was a bit squeak- 
ing and a little husky, but very well for a first effort. The spirit 
said: 

(a) "When I was on earth, I was a preacher, and at one 
time supposed I was a preacher of the gospel; but by experi- 
ence and investigation I found matters somewhat different from 
what I preached. At length, however, I began to be a little lib- 
eral in my utterances. Say, Mr. Secretary, did you ever read 
any of the sayings of Henry Ward Beecher?" 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 63 

(b) Secretary: "Oh, yes, sir. Long time since." 
Spirit: "Well, I am he. I am that same Henry Ward 

Beecher." 

(c) Mrs. House, who is clairvoyant at times, said: "Yes, 
that is he. He looks just like I see him at sometimes, 
clairvoyantly." 

(d) The spirit, nodding assent, went on: "I was not as out- 
spoken as I should have been, and that gave me some rough ex- 
perience over here; but I have met some preachers who have 
had a more thorny experience here than have I. 

(e) "I was in reality a Spiritualist in my latter days, and 
sometimes told my congregation of some of the facts of Spir- 
itualism, and the muttering came forth, 'Too liberal. He must 
modify, or I quit him.' So my congregation was boss, and I the 
servant. I was the teacher, but my pupils dictated, and let me 
into some darkness; and as soon as I was over here, I hunted 
for the road back to preach the whole truth and undo the error, 
by reporting back, and I am trying to turn light into places 
that I ought to have lighted up on earth while I was there. 
Neglected earthly duty is as retributive to the preacher as it is 
to anybody else. No favorites over here. Everyone must tread 
his own wine-press, and no hired or impressed servant can work 
the machinery of restitution for another. 

(f) "1 want to say that I am glad that I now have a con- 
gregation in whose presence I can speak what I know is the 
truth, and what every child of the race of man must at some 
time learn to know. 

(g) "I used to preach as my congregation pleased, but now 
I preach as Henry Ward Beecher pleases. Good-night." And 
the spirit vanished from our sight. 

Seance No. 12. 

January 28, 1900. 

105. Grace continued her written narrative. (See para- 
graph 1176.) 

Difficulties in the Way of Spirit Return. 

106. Dr. Keed, the chemical control, made a little talk con- 
cerning the difficulties in the way of spirit return. The spirit 
said: 

(a) "These difficulties are, some of them, hard to overcome, 
requiring continual persistent effort on our part for what would 
seem to you many years of time; but, knowing of the beneficent 
results, we toil on to accomplishment. 

(b) "Little do you know, on your side of life, of the fine 
chemical conditions brought to bear in order that we demon- 
strate to you the reality of our return. 

(V) "Not only are intelligent conditions necessary on our 



61 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

side; but, in order to any great success, we must have some 
cooperation of mortals. And it does us good to find a willing 
and faithful little band to help the good work along the way. 
We always try to reward such co-workers on earth with every 
possible promptness on our part. We hope this great interest 
on your part will continue to the end." 

107. Daniel O'Brien, the witty Irish spirit, next enter- 
tained the circle a few moments at trumpet speech, saying: 

(a) "Lots of people on both sides of life that know very 
little; and, indeed, Oi hardly knew much mesilf; and the 
prastes told me worse than nothing. 

(&) "According to thim, Oi 'd go to purgatory and stay 
there, unless Oi could pay out. 

(c) "And Oi didn't know mesilf whether it would be pur- 
gatory, hell-fire, or cold, pearly ice. 

(d) "Faith and howly Moses, and Oi didn't find hell-fire nor 
pearly ice. 

(e) "Say, ladies, what do ye suppose Oi did see, anyway? 

108. "I met an ould frind and he told me Oi was on tother 
side of Jordan. 

(a) "And Oi asked him where Oi was at, and he said, 'If 
you follow me, Oi will show you.' 

(b) "And he led me into a beautiful garden of roses and 
great swate flowers, and good, noice, beautif uK ladies ivery- 
where, and Oi thought mesilf in paradise. No hell, no purga- 
tory, no great crystal sea of pearly ice, but just one great, gar- 
den of swate flowers and beautiful ladies. 

(c) "Say, Mr. Pratt, you know how that is yoursilf. If you 
would git into a garden of such beautiful girls and swate flow- 
ers, you would want to stay right there always, wouldn't yese? 
And if ye 'd get away, ye 'd want to get right back among those 
girls. 

109. "Well, me guide said if Oi 'd look at mesilf, Oi 'd see 
that Oi was not clad for sich beautiful swate company and Oi 'd 
have to go back and get better clothes on and fix up a little, so 
as to appear a little respectable. 

(a) "And so we wint back and Oi found many no better 
prepared than Oi, nor near so well, and who had never seen or 
even heard of that beautiful garden. 

(b) "Say, Mr. Pratt, you know Oi was not so very bad way 
down in me heart, but Oi >m glad ye kept me from going too 
far with that foight, or Oi might have killed that mon. 

(c) "Well, Oi began to tell me frinds of the beautiful gar- 
den of ladies, and they all desired to go right away to that 
garden, and if ye were young again, Mr. Pratt, ye would go right 
there now. 



BETOND THE VAIL. 65 

(d) "And so Oi wanted to go back. And Oi told those 
folks they would have to fix up a little. 

(e) "And Oi began to help thim fix, and found that it was 
fixing me up, too. 

(/) "And so Oi hustled around and got thim fixed all up 
noice and we all marched on for the gardens." 

(Just here the church bell, some five blocks away, began 
ringing.) 

110. Spirit: "Say, do yese hear that bell? Listen! They 
think down there that ye are in purgatory, but they will find 
thimselves in that country, and they will be glad to have you 
help thim along a little by and by. But Oi must go. Good- 
night." 

(a) The jolly way of that Irish spirit's talk had waked up 
every interest of the whole circle and left good conditions for 
more information from "beyond the vail." 

Revelations from Higher Spheres. 

111. And Wesley Aber, standing before the circle and in 
the most elegant oral speech, said: 

(a) "Here I am again. Professor Denton was speaking to 
you the other evening concerning our meetings here of spirits 
recently passed from earth to spirit life; and now the professor 
asks me to say a word to you of what we have been" informed 
of the occupations of those who long ago passed to realms 
beyond us. 

(&) "Those ancients have their meetings, but they are some- 
what different from ours. But of course, in passing, they have 
had all the experiences of all conditions below them, and their 
assemblies are far more advanced in scientific purposes. 

(c) "In case we wish some scientific discovery, we get it 
from spirits of higher schools. 

(d) "And in case it be for the benefit of those yet in earth 
life, and we find some able to receive and utilize it, we pass 
it on to some sensitive. 

(e) "Thus you get all your inventions, as you have been 
told in 'Rending the Vail. , 

(/) "Let me emphasize: bear in mind that those ancient 
spirits long ago lived on your earth and passed over and 
through all the varied experiences from early childhood, so they 
must know all that we know, and some of them almost infinitely 
more. 

(g) "We ask and learn of them; and some of our learning 
thus obtained we pass to you. This may be news to some of 
you, but it is eternal truth to us. 

(h) "All spirits, everywhere, having knowledge that would 
bv — 5 



66 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

benefit any class, are anxious to impart such information to any 
person competent to receive it, and the higher spirits are ever 
anxious and active to hasten the evolution of man to continu- 
ally higher attainments." 

Epp.s Sargent 

112. Called, announced his name, and indicated that he has 
something for ns at the proper time, and then gave way for 

Edgar Allen Poe, 

113. Who said his experience has been much and varied, 
and that at some time he will give to us some poetical message. 

John Jerikinson, 

114. Long since in spirit life, and brother to Mrs. House, 
said: 

"I have passed through much experience; and, finally, I 
have succeeded in making such progress that I am now being 
prepared to do much for myself and the benefit of needy souls." 

Henry Clay 

115. Proudly stood before the circle, announced his name, 
and intimated that he hopes to be able, ere long, to impart to 
us a message. 

116. Then one entirely strange to the circle stood forth 
and said: 

"I suppose yon never before saw me, and you may be sur- 
prised when I tell you that I am 

John W. Draper, 

of the conflict between science and religion. I have an experi- 
ence also, but at present may say that, in the main, what I 
wrote is the truth, as I thought at the time, and much of it you 
may recognize as Spiritualism.'* 

Robert G. Ingersoll 

117. Stood to our view, and has made such wonderful ad- 
vance in vocalization that the circle recognized him so soon as 
he began to speak. In good, oral tones and oratorical style he 
said : 

(a) "I find, friends, that there is no death, no such thing 
as death. In this regard I was very much mistaken. 

(b) "Although I sometimes hoped for future life and some- 
times hoped that spirit return might be true, yet the predomi- 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 67 

nance of my convictions was that death ended all. Then I did 
not know; but now I do know that dissolution is but unfetter- 
ing the man, and opening to him the gateway of a more realis- 
tic existence than any person ever experienced in the mortal; 
and, as the gateway stands ajar, I can now see for myself the 
morning beams of an endless fruition. 

(c) "On the other hand, I am glad that I made the issues 
I did, in regard to those so-called orthodox theological notions 
and teachings. 

(d) "I honestly made the issues to the world in my lect- 
ures and writings. I earnestly believed the whole business erro- 
neous, and a curse to the human race; and I now find that I 
made the issues aright, and know that what I said and wrote 
concerning theological dogmas is true, and that the creedal 
preaching of the whole sacerdotal world is false. 

(e) "Although many do not nor will endorse these posi- 
tions, nevertheless I do not care, for I know now that common 
theology is absolutely erroneous from bottom to top. And when 
I saw so much deception played upon the people and false theo- 
logical notions taught them, my soul yearned to try to counter- 
act, to uproot the evil, and I honestly labored to that end; and 
now I can reach out in any direction to take by the hand any 
laborer in that same field. 

(/) "I am here to say to you and to your world that I am 
now glad of my change. My work was done on earth, and, to a 
great extent, the talents placed in my keeping have been ad- 
vantageously employed, and for many ages will return a hand- 
some profit to help me along my endless journey. 

118. "Friends. I now see that thousands of children come 
over here out of those false religious relations and teachings, 
with their little souls poisoned all through; and even aged peo- 
ple, and people of all ages, arrive on these shores almost fam- 
ished from a wasted religious life; and it is to be mine to take 
these waifs by the haud and lead them into the beautiful gar- 
dens of seZ/dependent souls/' 

Jeanette Berry, 

119. Standing forth in pure white garments, spoke in 
distinct whisper, saying: 

(a) "When I was in the mortal body, I belonged to the 
church. All my prejudice was for the church. 

(b) "My dear mamma used to tell me of the great truth 
of Spiritualism, but I would not listen to her; and the more she 
told me of this, the more determined I was to stay with the 
•church and pay no heed to my poor mamma. 

(c) "The time came when I was railed to the spirit side of 



68 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

life; and then I soon found that what my mamma had told me 
was much nearer true than the teachings of the church, which 
I found to be mostly erroneous as to this life; and, to my sor- 
row, those errors I had to begin to unlearn; and I have pro- 
gressed and am progressing. Tell my mamma to forgive me. 

(d) "I was married. My husband still lives and is again 
married, and now is a Spiritualist, and I am glad for him, and 
wish he were where he could see me. 

(e) "I thought this medium, who is my brother, a strange 
boy, but I now know how much I was mistaken. Little did I 
know what his instrumentality would be to the world as I now 
begin to realize its greatness." 

120. Portrait effort No. 7, in illustration of the written 
experience of 

Lorenzo Aher, 

set in at paragraph 1163, and thus the test conditions of the 
production, to-wit: 

121. The artist placed the box of sketch paper on the arena 
table and opened the box, took a sheet of the paper out of it, 
and had the secretary go to the arena table and examine the 
paper, which was found to be clear of any sketching; then the 
spirit placed the paper back into the box, closed the lid down, 
had secretary place both hands on the box lid at the side on the 
right of the spirit, and Mrs. Aber to place her hands on the side 
of the box lid on left side of the spirit. The spirit then made a 
few passes of his hands over the box; tljen took the paper from 
the box and on the paper thus taken from it was a partial por- 
trait. Then the spirit placed that paper back into the box, 
closed the lid down and had hands of secretary and Mrs. Aber 
placed on the lid as at first described, and then the spirit made 
the ordinary passes of his hands over the box, and again took 
the paper out of the box, and, in view of the circle, on that 
paper were the outlines of two portraits well filled in. Then 
the spirit took the paper into the cabinet and rattled it about, 
and thumped it, and then gave the paper to the secretary in 
sight of the circle, and as the paper was so being given to the 
secretary, the circle all attested to seeing this finished illustra- 
tion on that paper, representing a child that had been murdered 
by its mother, trying to get its mother out of the dark condi- 
tions that she found on her entry into spirit life. (See Loren- 
zo's writing at 1164.) 

Seance No. 13. 

February 1, 1900. 

122. Grace continues her written narrative of ending her 
life in the physical. (See paragraph 1178.) 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 69 

Daniel O'Brien. 

123. The seance seemed to be lifeless at the opening, and 
the jolly Irishman was sent out to break the monotony, and a 
great display of wit, humor, reparteee did he make, and began 
by saying: 

(a) 'Oi see that it is the fashin with other people who 
come out here to say, 'Good-evening, frinds,' and Oi suppose 
Oi must follow the fashin." 

Circle: "That is because we all are friends." 

Spirit: "Yis, yis, Oi see — sometimes. Well, then, frinds, 
how do you all do, anyway? Shtart thet moosic-box. Moosic 
has charms to soothe a savage heart loike moine. 

(&) "Wan has mooch to learn over here. Oi 've seen mooch 
already — even more than some who have been here longer 
than Oi." 

(c) Circle: "Don't you help those needy ones over there?" 

Spirit: "Oi loike to help those thet thry to help thim- 
selves." 

A lady: "Especially the ladies." 

Spirit: "Oi loike to help sich ladies as thry to help thim- 
selves. Oi always loike to help sich people as thry to help 
thimselves. 

South African War a Mistake. 

124. "Say, Mr. Secretary, do you know about the mules 
going to South Africa?" 

(Some time previously the secretary happened at the barn 
in Kansas City, where mules were being inspected for British 
use in the Transvaal war.) 

(a) Circle: "Say, Daniel, what do you think of the Brit- 
ish in that war?" 

125. Spirit: "Did ye iver see a mole, Mr. Secretary?" 
Secretary: "Yes, sir." 

(a) Spirit': "What a smooth tail was made for him?" 
Secretary: "Yes, sir." 

(b) Spirit: "That was a great mistake." 
Secretary: "I should say so." 

A lady: "And how, Daniel, is the smooth tail of the mole 
a mistake?" 

(c) Spirit: "Not enough fuzz on the tail to brush off the 
flies." 

Secretary: "Mr. O'Brien, you are not favorable to the Brit- 
ish in the South African war?" 

(d) Spirit: "Oi say thet the mole's tail is a mistake, and, 
beside, he Boers away blindly." 



70 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Copas. 

126. Then a spirit whom the circle had not before recog- 
nized, not able to vocalize ranch — seemed to be German— said: 
"I am not tailoring now. I have had some experience over here. 
I knew a little about Spiritualism before I came to this side 
and that was much help to me, and I may be able, later on, to 
tell you something of interest." 

Anonymous (See 49, 50.) 

Considers various matters. 

Prevalence of Crime. 

127. Then one whom the circle did not recognize spoke at 
length. But for some reason the vocalization and form of the 
man were not up to the standard, so that, unless the spirit or 
controls announced the name, or the form be one very familiar 
to the circle, the personality was not recognized; but the men- 
tality of what was given was all right. The spirits said that 
unfavorable atmospheric conditions modified the phenomena. 
But this anonymous one gave to us this rather excellent 
talk: 

(a) "I am here again to-night, and shall relate a little of 
my experience and observation for you and for the world. 

(b) "I notice that the condition of your country to-day is, 
in some respects, very bad. Crimes are being committed every- 
where. Criminals are abounding on all sides; murder, suicide, 
robbery, and all manner of lawlessness and outrage all the time 
in the consideration of your courts of justice; many of the al- 
leged criminals are condemned to suffer death on the gallows. 

Capital Punishment. 

128. "Your juries, your courts, your law-makers do not 
know that a criminal, when executed, is not dead, is not put 
out of the way of taking revenge, of avenging himself in retalia- 
tion, but is more dangerous to society than ever before; and can 
do mankind more harm from the spirit side than while in the 
mortal. 

An Example. 

128^. "I met one who had been cut short of life on earth 
by the hangman's rope, under the finding of a jury, with his 
soul full of revengeful feeling; and he was trying to get con- 
trol of one yet of earth, in order, through him, to satiate his 
revengeful feelings. 

(a) "But we forced him back to reconsider, and thus gave 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 71 

bis mind more chance to become calm and considerate, and at 
the same time gave relief to the party that was sought to be 
made instrumental in some criminal act. 

Erroneous Verdicts. 

129. "Too often juries give heed to external appearances 
and persuasions of counsel: at one time convicting innocence, at 
another failing to convict the guilty. 

(a) "A defendant not well clad nor able to secure counsel 
is too apt to be required to prove himself innocent. 

(b) "And a well-clad, moneyed man or preacher must be 
proven guilty beyond a shadow of doubt, and then every mitiga- 
tion allowed. 

(c) "So that too often correct verdicts are not given, and 
the defendant generally knows whether or not justice has been 
done. 

(d) "Let your courts be presided over by such men as 
Judge Edmonds, and soon the crime record would begin to 
grow less. 

Thought for a Time He Was in Heaven. 

130. "Well, friends, for a time after my arrival here I 
seemed satisfied with my condition, so I did not make much 
investigation. I thought I was all right. The country and my 
surroundings seemed very satisfactory to me. 

(a) "And, as I was passing along, I met some people who 
appeared to me as though they had been there a long time. I 
asked them if it was heaven I was in. 

(b) "They told me they supposed not. They said they had 
been here a long time and never found any place called heaven; 
but they had found, in their journeyings, a more beautiful coun- 
try, and they advised me to travel on and closely observe all 
that would come in my way. 

Thought He Was in Hell. 

131. "I went on and soon came to a dark place, and there 
met some travelers, and I asked them if that was hell? And 
they said, 'No, this is not hell/ 

(a) "And soon I found some that seemed as dark as the 
place, and I thought this must be hell, surely. 

(b) "But I traveled on again, and found a much darker 
place. Darkness closed in all around me. I thought then I was 
in hell sure enough, and would never more see the light. 

(c) "It was dark, oh, so dark, yet I could see in that dark- 
ness. I cannot convey to you, my friends, the awful horror of 
that dark, dark place, nor describe to you the misery, agony, 



72 BEYOND TEE VAIL. 

and suffering of the dark people of that dark place. Oh, if I 
could only find the way back to the light place, so that I could 
show some of these poor wretches the way to some better 
country! 

Turning toward the Light. 

132. "And at the very desire, it began to grow brighter all 
about me, but the dark, deep gloom seemed to linger about the 
people there. 

(a) "And I found myself going back to the light place, and 
met some more travelers on the road, who seemed joyous and 
happy. And they told me that what I had seen was indeed a 
place; but the darkness I had seen was the spiritual condition of 
the people there; and that when I would have investigated and 
experienced sufficiently to unfold my own spiritual nature, there 
would be no dark places to me, though in the midst of those in 
absolute darkness. 

Out of Darkness into Light, and Met the Angels. 

133. "And when I was fully back to the place that I first 
thought was heaven, there seemed a great number of people 
that I had not at first observed. I told them of my journeyings 
and the dark places and the inexpressible misery there. 

Both Heaven and Hell Are Conditions of One's Own Soul, and Not of 

Place or Locality. 

134. "And they said they had all been there and knew all 
about the dark conditions there. They said, 'It is not heaven, 
it is not hell' ; that they never found any place or locality that was 
or is any more heaven or any any more hell than any or every 
other place. 

(a) "That they have found that loth heaven and hell and all 
of their modifications are conditions of one's own soul. (R. V., 1350.) 

(b) "That a soul or person or spirit of dark, undeveloped 
conditions would at any place in all the realms of space be in 
darkness. 

(c) "But that, at the same time, there are places more con- 
genial to given soul attainments than other places. 

(d) "And that my experience among those dark souls has 
prepared me for higher light and enjoyment; and that, if I would 
follow for a time, they would lead me to a country as unspeak- 
ably beautiful as the darkness of those lowly ones was unspeak- 
ably dark. 

"And they did lead me along and help me to help myself 
along, till at last we came into 



BEYOND THE VAIL. ^3 

A Beautiful Country. 

134J. "I might talk to you of that country, of its grandeur, 
of its happy inhabitants, of its rich and sweet aromas, of its 
music — its delightful strains of sweet music, of its flowers in 
endless bloom and variegated colors in infinite profusion, its 
mountains, hills, dales, plains, and beautiful streams. But I 
might talk to you and get hosts of the most advanced immortals, 
dwelling in the eternal beauty and grandeur of that glorious 
country, to stand here with me and speak and sing of its ambro- 
sial gardens, all your days on earth, and yet you could only have 
a dim idea of that beautiful country awaiting vou on this side 
of life. 

The Boad to the Beautiful Land. 

135. "But remember, dear friends, the great highway to 
that beautiful land is what we call and what you will find to 
be the road of experience. 

Some of the Causes Why Souls Are Not Better Prepared on Earth. 

136. "Then I went back to that dark condition of the poor, 
unfortunate ones, to tell them of their condition, and try to 
help them up the way toward a better country. And I led one 
out of lowest depths to a realization of better things. And in 
doing so I learned much of the causes why souls are not better 
prepared on earth for the Great Beyond. 

(a) "And I gazed back to earth through the gloom, to be- 
hold, with pain to my soul, to see such almost universal grasp- 
ing for money. Money, any way, every way, by every means- 
right or wroug, fair or unfair. Money, money, always and only 
money! As though salvation depends on money. And the 
greatest rascal, the biggest thief, and he who occasions the 
greatest amount of misery and wretchedness on earth to get 
money, is the greatest soul of all eternity. 

(b) "Oh, dear friends, when will the people of earth learn 
that money will not save them? 

(c) "And it is painful, too, to see so many of those cheated 
ones want to get back to earth to be avenged. And this tremen- 
dous tide of the grasping spirit sweeps nearly all into a great 
maelstrom. Even some good people are swept away by this 
irresistible torrent." 

137. When "Anonymous" had gone, Grace continued her 
written narrative (1180). While writing, the spirit said: "Mr. 
Secretary, in your copy of my writing you have omitted the 
words, 'I had left for him.' " 

Examination of the secretary's report showed that the 
spirit was correct concerning the omitted words. 



74 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Seance No. iJf. 

February 4, 1900. 
Grace continued her narrative writing set in at paragraph 
1182. 

Dr. Feed, 

139. On requisite conditions, said: 

(a) "There are many things on our side, as well as on y oar 
side, that we have to contend with ; and it is a great help to us 
to have you all come together with good, light hearts and earn- 
est purposes in the work we have to do. 

(b) "Then, again, we desire that you all desist from conten- 
tion with your neighbors about our work here, until after our 
work is all done. Such contention and consequent excitement 
injures you, does the other parties no good, spoils your own fit- 
ness to give to us harmonious elements for our work, and, above 
all, attracts occult influences in here for us to contend with r 
and sometimes entirely retards our work; so, dear friends, 
please let all questions have an unanswered go-by, so far as 
leading into any contention whatever." 

140. As is the custom just before opening the seance, the- 
secretary read his minutes and full report of all the psychic 
matter given at the last seance. The reader will remember the 
report of the oratorical effort of a spirit who did not divulge his 
name; and the minutes designate him "Anonymous." 

The circle passed the minutes without finding any needed 
correction, and the report went to the spirits to pass upon it. 
As soon as Dr. Reed had concluded his introductory, 

141. Spirit William Denton appeared, standing between 
the secretary and cabinet, and said: 

(a) "Mr. Secretary, I wish to congratulate you on the full 
and faultless report you have made of our last seance; and espe- 
cially for myself and for 'Anonymous' to thank you for the 
fullness and correctness of your report of that gentleman's 
noble effort. And we all hope that speech will do much good in 
your world." 

And now comes that jolly Irish spirit, 

Daniel O'Brien. 

142. "How do ye all do, friends, onyhow? f W Oi tell yese 
that Dr. Bade is a foine mon indade. Och, but isn't this grand! 

(a) "Say, Mr. Secretary, did yese iver rade in the Boible 
about that mon Daniel in the lion's den? 

(b) "Me father and mither was radin' about thet wan 
toime, and that is the rasin why my name is Daniel." * 

(c) A lady: "Daniel, in that den it must have been hard 
on Daniel?" 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 75- 

(d) Spirit: "No, madam. It was hard on the lions." 
Circle: "Why?" 

Spirit: "Daniel wasn't fit to ate. Daniel was a great mon, 
'n' shure he was. 

143. "Say, Misthur Secretary, did ye rade about Jonah 
swallowing that whale?" 

Secretary: "Oh, yes, Mr. O'Brien. That is a great fish 
story, whichever did the swallowing." 

(a) Spirit: "Yis, sir. Whiniver I go to prache about 
Jonah and that whale, Oi always lave my 'little hatchet' at 
home. But Oi must go now. Me toime is oop. Good-night." 

Jim Fiske. 

144. One stood to our view, saying: "I have had a terri- 
ble experience and have been sent for to prepare to tell you 
some of it; and perhaps I may be able to tell you, later on, some- 
thing of general interest. 

(a) "I am Jim Fiske, who was slain on account of Josie 
Mansfield, you may remember." 

Charles Steivard, 

145. The trumpet medium when in the physical, made his 
presence and identity known, and said: 

(a) "Since in spirit life I have met many that were medi- 
ums on earth, and I find that many of them have not advanced 
far on this side. 

(&) "They say they did their work on earth amid great trib- 
ulation, and that they are satisfied to rest awhile. 

(c) "I tell them I am a rustler, and although I had many 
rebuffs and trials and hardships, I believe I could rest better to 
knock around a little and find out where I am at. 

(d) "I met that 'old wheel-horse' of the early days, E. V. 
Wilson, and I asked him to show me around a little. 

ie) "'And he said, 'Yes, certainly, Charlie; come right along 
with me and I shall see that you pass all right.' And as he led 
me along, I was delighted with my journeyings. 

if) "And I want to tell you another thing: I've quit my 
everlasting war on mediums, and 1 7 m going to stay quit, and a 
whole lot of other folks will quit their war on mediums mighty 
soon after they get over here. They '11 find that somebody else is 
just as honest as they are, and sometimes a great deal more so. 

(g) "I find this a grand country as far as I have yet seen, 
and I find I am passing many w T ho have been here longer than 1; 
and they tell me there are more glorious conditions beyond, to 
which I may attain if I keep on rustling." 



76 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Dr. Thome. 

146. One caine forth from the cabinet and said: "I am Dr. 
Thorne, of Thorne Hotel, Kansas City. 

(a) "I was a Spiritualist, am one yet; and if I had not been 
a Spiritualist, I would be one now by compulsion. 

(&) "But some are too stubborn to give it up right away. 
They have a great load of prejudice to work off, so doctors are 
needed here, and I follow my profession on this side, not in the 
drug business, but in nursing and soothing the soul-sick, as 
they come over here, until they can care for themselves." 

147. The spirit Warren Chase renewed his acquaintance 
with Mrs. House. (K. V., 411.) 

Herrmann, 

148. The magician, came forth into visibility, saying: "This 
is a strange place to me. Spiritualists used to tell me I was a 
medium. I did some curious things, it is true. I am Herrmann, 
the magician." 

Drawing No. 8. 

149. The artist appeared at the arena table with the box of 
sketch paper, took a sheet and held it out so that all the circle 
could distinctly see that there was no trace of any sketching on 
the paper. Then the spirit worked awhile as though sketching, 
again held the paper so that the circle could see thQ surfaces of 
the paper, and now there are outlines of a drawing distinctly 
seen on it by the circle. The artist made more motions of the 
paper, violently shaking it, thumped it about, saying he has 
hard work at it; and in less than ten minutes this drawing is 
complete. The test, if any, in this case, is the fact that the 
entire process of the work of the making of this drawing was 
done in full view of the whole circle. The spirit, the paper, and 
every motion of the spirit, all the while of the entire work, being 
distinctly visible to the circle, and the spirit and the circle all 
the while in mutual conversation. (Set in at 160.) 

150. Grace writing. (See paragraph 1183.) When Grace 
had finished her writing for this seance, she said in a whisper: 

(a) "I have written two more pages. Unless my writing is 
getting too monotonous, I will continue at some length yet. It 
seemed necessary that I should relate my experiences of earth 
life to show something of the effect of earth-life conduct on con- 
ditions after transition. 

(b) "I had experience on earth of the bright and dark sides 
of life, so I had experience of both the dark and bright sides in 
spirit life; and have come up out of great tribulation to be now 
a very bright spirit." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



77 




MARY CUNNINGHAM. 

Mary Cunningham. 

151. After Grace had written and spoken, a spirit of the 
appearance of a woman clad in garments of pure white took her 
stand at the center of the south side of the room, facing the cir- 
cle to the northeast, and delivered in whispered speech her ex- 
periences as follows: 

(a) "My parents both passed to spirit life wheu I was quite 
young, leaving me an orphan to be cared for by some friends, 
who were not able to extend to me any advantages beyond a 
fairly comfortable home and limited education, until I would 
be able to work my own way in the world. 

(b) "I was persuaded, when quite young, that, in order to 
get along in the world, I had better attach myself to some Chris- 
tian church; therefore, after listening to the advice and recom- 
mendations of several whom I supposed would direct me for 



78 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

my best interests, I selected and joined the Episcopal Church, 
and did all I could to be a consistent Christian according to the 
creed. 

(c) "As the time came when I would be expected to begin 
to help in providing for my own support, I began to try to 
interest some of the membership of my church in my behalf. 
But I soon began to see that a poor orphan was not in good 
social standing with the membership, and that I need not expect 
much assistance, and that a servant must know the place of a 
servant, regardless of any claims as a consistent Christian. 

(d) "At length, receiving but little encouragement or sym- 
pathy, and noticing and contrasting the attitude of the mem- 
bers and ministers of my church as between the rich and poor, 
I began to have doubts of their Christian sincerity. 

152. "So, in looking about for some chance for honorable 
labor, I met a woman who seemed to sympathize with my condi- 
tion, and she kindly manifested her sympathy by suggesting to 
me how I could get along honorably, and told me to learn to 
practice economy, and how to find and secure work and get to 
be in demand, and I felt sure I had found a true Christian. 

(a) "I asked her if she were an Episcopalian. She was 
not. 'Of course,' I suggested, 'you must belong to some Chris- 
tian body of people?' 

153. "She answered: 'No, my child; I am Free Thought.' 
That was new to me, and I asked her to explain. 

(a) "She said: 'A believer in Free Thought is one who 
accords to every other the privilege of working out all religious 
problems for himself, and his honest conclusions to be held by 
him in equal natural and social privilege and standing with one's 
own self.' 

154. "Soon I met another lady, who dissuaded me from the 
'Free Thought' notion, and prevailed on me to stay with the 
church or I was 'a lost and undone soul.' 

(a) "I went on to church, but no favor was shown me. 

(b) "I seemed to belong to a lower caste— one beneath the 
notice of well-to-do Christians. 

(c) "And at last the time came when 1 must have help, not 
much of which did I get from my church. 

155. "Finally, questioning the whole matter from founda- 
tion up, I returned to the first lady and told her all, and she 
said she would find me a nice home and living pay. And she did 
get me a good place, a nice home of people with noble souls, 
and at two dollars per week with good board and accommoda- 
tions and no overwork, and all passed on with peace and sat- 
isfaction to a time when I was taken sick. 

(a) "But I was at home, among great-hearted Free Thought 
people, who cared for my every need with tenderest parental 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 79 

<care; and then, in serene fjeace, i passed out of that body and 
was received by a band of brightly illumined friends. And they 
led me on and on into one country after another, each more 
beautiful than the other; and at last I am prepared to enjoy this 
supremely glorious country. 

156. "My mission for the present is the happy privilege of 
assisting from earth and earthly conditions newborn spirits and 
setting them well along the all-glorious eternal highway in the 
realms of the beautiful spheres." 

And our Sam told us that the name of this bright spirit is 
Mary Cunningham. 

Seance No. 15. 

February 8, 1900. 

156. Grace, yielding to others, did but little writing. 
Y1183J.) 

Beed 

157. Congratulated the five of the circle who had braved 
the cold wave in order to be at this seance, and expressed him- 
self as well satisfied with the secretary's reports so far of the 
matter given by the spirits at these various seances, and that 
the participating spirits are all well satisfied. He said: 

(a) "In our choosing we have tried to select from various 
classes of spirit life, so that the circle should not be charged 
with partiality and with having selfish control of this 'open 
door.' 

(I) "And, again, it is often that persons considered by mor- 
tals as of low esteem are in reality sometimes in much esteem 
over here, while many of the so-called great of earth are to be 
found in low and dark conditions on entrance into spirit life." 

Denton 

158. Followed Eeed, speaking quite at length as to his 
personal experiences and observations on the spirit side, 
saying : 

(a) "Although but few of you are here this evening, we 
cannot explain to you our appreciation of your faithfulness to 
the prosecution of this good work. I have made several trips 
lately, in which I have had varied experiences; and some of them 
different to any before. 

159. "I was told to go and find some who are in a dark 
condition and try to lead them away to some place that will 
afford them more light. They told me they were innocent and 
not meriting more suffering there. I told them I would go, and 
if I should find them innocent, I would try to bring them; but 
1 must first find whether thev be innocent. 



30 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(a) "I started and found all right for a time, the way being 
bright and pleasant. But by and by I came to a valley, and as I 
traveled on down the valley, the darkness increased into thick 
darkness, but I traveled on in the darkness; and after awhile 
there was faint light, which grew lighter and lighter and bright- 
er to brighter light, and I traveled on by the light; and at length 
found the desired place, and finally reached those for whom I 
was seeking, and found the story of their innocence to be true. 

(b) "I had quite a task in getting them to an understand- 
ing of their situation; but at last succeeded and brought them 
to a brighter condition. 

(c) "And they are now moving right along in the light, and 
beginning to be joyous and happy, and we hope that at some 
time they will be here, so that they may relate their story 
to you. 

Denton Leading a Child to the School. 

160. "Now I wish to say something about that picture, No. 
8, of which you speak in your minutes, though I have no doubt, 
if you closely examine that picture and study it, you can work 
it out. But as you have your hands full, I will explain a little, 
so that you can easily see the whole representation. 

(a) "I am there with a child to cross the stream. 

(o) "The lady you see to the right is endeavoring to have 
me take cognizance of other children toward which she is point- 
ing, but I pay no heed to her. I move right on with my little 
charge to get it across the stream and over to that house of 
learning you see beyond and somewhat in the shade of those 
tall trees. 

(c) "The little school-house represents a locality prepared 
for those in need of spiritual enlightenment, and consists of sev- 
eral compartments for different grades of advancement, from 
rudimental childhood to a very much refined development of 
spirituality. However, the artist says he will try to illustrate 
this entire matter." (See 149.) 

Training the Children. 
Wesley, 

161. Following Denton^ in very emphatic and eloquent oral 
speech, said: 

(a) "Friends, I have been in the presence of many thou- 
sands of little ones, have been in their schools and beheld their 
glad and happy faces as they, in joyful gladness, had opened up 
to their intellects knowledge of the beautiful garden fields of 
the delightful realms of the spirit world; and oh, friends, what 
a pleasing and delightful task the many thousands of teachers 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



81 




BV 6 



82 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

enjoy as thej r see tliese open buds of the future gardens of mil- 
lions of ages yet to be; and those little ones soon get to know 
more than some larger ones, and become adapted to the task of 
leading the larger ones on the way. 

162. "It is a great part of my calling now, dear friends, to 
manage a messenger department, and to train some of these 
little ones to serve as messengers. 

(a) "When these little ones learn the way, they are our 
best messengers to the higher spheres, and can reach much 
higher intelligences than the larger ones of our plane. 

(b) "Some time ago I sent one of my little pupils to bear a 
message to one of the higher spheres and return to me the 
answer. At the required time the little one came bearing the 
answering message from the brighter and more glorious man- 
sions beyond; and, oh, the thrilling delight with which this lit- 
tle messenger related of the indescribable glory along the way; 
and of the beautiful people she met in those bright regions — 
those regions of all-glorious light! 

(c) "And when this little one related her beautiful story 
of her exalted privilege, another little one came and begged to 
be sent on a mission so that it could behold some of those beau- 
tiful things; and I told her that so soon as her time would come 
in the nearby, she, too, should bear a message, and now it has 
reached that result. 

163. "These little ones, too, are our best and most effica- 
cious messengers to lead those that are in the darkness out of 
that darkness into the light. 

(a) "A little child can approach near to and^get a hear- 
ing from a darkened one that larger ones cannot reach. 

(b) "After the child has been sufficiently trained therefor, 
it investigates the light places and conditions, and the way lead- 
ing from one to the other. 

(c) "Then, when we find one in darkness whom we cannot 
reach, we send one of these trained little ones; and the little 
one finally gets a hearing and tells the darkened one of some 
beautiful place and condition of light, where there are beautiful 
and happy people. And at length the little one induces the one 
in dark condition to go and see that condition of light and wit- 
ness the glory of it; and after the darkened one becomes desir- 
ous of reaching the light, the little one leads back, pointing out 
to its confidential charge how it must gradually, by experience, 
become fitted to advance and travel on out of the darkness, and 
become a citizen of the condition of light. 

(d) "So, in confidence, the darkened one begins and works 
out of its darkness to that beautiful state of light. 

(e) "And thus, my friends, from age to age, the glorious 
work goes on over here. And it is over here that you will find 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 83 

that glorious condition of peace and see 'a little child leading 
them." (See Isaiah 11:6.) 

164. Dr. Danner, who was once resident of this village and 
deceased here some fifteen years ago, spoke to us, and in good, 
strong vocalization, said: 

(a) "Brothers and sisters, this is a new mission to me. I 
have been requested by the guides to report to you a little bit 
of my experiences. 

(&) . "To the individual generally, it is awful to think of 
death, but it comes at last, anyway; and when it is all over, you 
think, 'Well, it is done now, and not so bad, after all/ And so 
I am happy to meet you here in this way to-night. 

(c) "Some have been telling you of their experiences in 
teaching. I am not a teacher. Mine is a different mission. 
Some reach this side of life in a condition of mental sick- 
ness. Earthly conditions have not afforded opportunity for the 
healthy development of the spirits' power of expression. 

(d) "I have met many such spirits and have made their 
•conditions a study, and have learned much as to their success- 
ful relief; and hence it is my mission to minister unto this class 
of unfortunates. 

(e) "Many of them resemble, in action, persons in delirium 
tremens; and their cases are, indeed, very piteous. But w 7 e suc- 
ceed, sooner or later, in obtaining relief, so that they become 
qualified to go into the teachers' hands. 

if) "There are many conditions of these unfortunates con- 
stantly requiring our most skillful attention." 

Jane Osgood. 

165. A spirit of the appearance of a woman stood in our 
view, being clothed in exceedingly white dress, and in a whis- 
per said: "My name is Jane Osgood. I lived in New York, and 
my people, some of them, live there now. I may have something 
to relate to you, ere long, and may through you reach them with 
the revelation that I still live." 

Tiley Johnson. 

166. One announcing her name as Tiley Johnson said: "I 
did live at Griffith, Cherokee County, Texas. My husband's name 
is Alexander Johnson, lie still lives at Griffith, and often 
thinks of me. He knew something about Spiritualism, and so 
did I. 

(a) "All my days on earth were days of sunshine. Very 
little darkness or shadow ever crossed my pathway. 

(b) "It has been some time since my transition, and I have 
always been in the light over here, and have never seen dark- 



84 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

ness on my own account, only as I have come in sympathy with 
those of lowly condition; and this experience seems sufficient 
for all my educational purposes." 

[This seems to be an exception as to never having had ex- 
perience of darkness. — Secretary.] 

Isabella Aber 

167. Announced the name and said something, but she was 
so quickly gone and followed by little Nellie Gray, one of the 
cabinet band, that the secretary failed to catch what Isabella 
said. 

Little Nellie Gray, 

168. Nellie seemed desirous that the minutes should recite 
more of her work, saying, in childish speech, as is her custom: 

(a) "Untie Nitson, I want oo to have more report of me 
and what I am for. 

{b) "I am a little messenger girl for Sam and Dr. Reed. 
They send me on little journeys to find folks to come here and 
tell of what they have been doing, and what they have not; and 
to go into some dark places with some light for the folks there; 
and to go to some still on earth, impress them to do something, 
or not to do a certain thing; and to find out help for some in 
need; and to show the helpers the waiting, needy ones. And 
so little Nellie is always busy." 

[Little Nellie always makes her whole talk in simple, child- 
ish manner, and the secretary leaves the reader to construe 
most of it into the way a little child would speak.^] 

O'Brien. 

169. "There is a great deal to learn, and Oi am learning 
some of it, and Oi am trying to help some others to learn, and 
Oi have been trying to get one out of darkness, and Oi belave 
Oi shall soon have him in the loight; and then Oi shall try and 
have him coom here. 

(a) "But Oi tell yese there is so much to learn that Oi 
guess it will take us always and maybe more. And Oi 've met 
many since Oi was here last, and they was all trying to foind 
out something, and what Oi can't show thim, some other will." 

Seance No. 16. 

February 11, 1900. 

170. Grace finished her written experience. (1184.) 

(a) When Grace had completed this writing, she gathered 
up the three slips of paper of this evening's writing and handed 
them to the secretary and said: 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 85 

"I have now concluded my narrative. I hope it may be of 
some benefit to some yet in the earth life. 

(&) "Tell the circle that it is with all the gratitude of my 
nature that I tender to you all my thanks for this opportunity 
to deliver my little message; for if it do no other good, it is an 
effort to do my duty that may help myself and some others on 
this side, farther away from earthly burdens. Bid them all 
good-night for me. Thank you, sir. Good-night." And the 
spirit was gone. 

Reed, 

171. As presiding officer of the seance, asked if there were 
criticisms on the minutes. Hearing none, he said: "Mr. Secre- 
tary, your report of last seance stands approved." 

Wesley 

172. Made a little talk, in which he said: 

(a) "I have not had any experience since our last meeting 
here that would be of interest to you, unless it be to tell you 
that we have had a conference meeting on our side to consider 
the advisability of inviting among you some quite undeveloped 
spirits, to illustrate some of our work here; but, after carefully 
considering the whole matter, we conclude it is not best at this 
time to introduce to you such influences, and that we can as 
well present our case by relating our wayside observations and 
experiences with those traveling in earth conditions." 

John Ames. 

173. A form said: "My name is John Ames, of Sherman, 
Texas. I was killed in a cyclone in 1896. So was my wife, I 
was a Spiritualist, but she was not. 

(a) "My knowledge of Spiritualism did me much good to- 
ward getting me on my way over here. My wife is with me now. 
In earth life I was a miller. Little Susie is with sister." 

174. Spirit Jefferson House said to C. V. N. House: "Do 
you see me, brother? I am glad you have been so long a Spirit- 
ualist. The fact that I have been able to return to your pres- 
ence has been a great help to me. It has assisted me to lessons 
that I needed to help me along, and provided a means for me 
io do my duty in helping others along." 

Jane Westbrooh. 

175. A spirit, speaking in a hoarse whisper resembling the 
voice of a man in a whisper nearly oral, so that at first the cir- 
cle thought it a man having a white robe on, but shortly the 



8(5 BEYOND THE VAIL, 

controls said: "This lady had such voice when on earth." Then 
this spirit said: 

(a) "My name is Jane Westbrook. 1 lived in Michigan and 
came to my death by fire on this wise: 

(b) "I kept a little store. 1 had some money, which I had 
hidden away under the carpet. The building caught on fire, and 
we all rushed out, and then I tried to save some things, and I 
thought of the money and went back for it and was caught on 
fire before I could get out. And my son Bart. Westbrook and 
I were burned to death in the street, not being able to get far 
enough away from the flames. 

(c) "I suppose it was twenty-five years ago as you reckon 
time, but; I cannot get it clear. This is the first time that I 
have had the opportunity to return in this way, and I am very 
thankful to those in charge here for this privilege. Already I 
feel the beneficial effects to me. I think T may tell more, some 
time, of my condition and experience on this side." 

176. The artist, after getting ready for work, found no 
crayon provided, and said to the secretary: "No writee, makee 
no picture; no stuffee, disappointee, heap." 

(a) This spirit artist is just beginning to talk English so 
that we can understand his speech. 

(b) He says he is Italian, but so far conceals his name. 

Mamie Olney. 

177. A young lady that deceased here several months ago,, 
having been an invalid a number of years, was a Presbyterian 
of very meek disposition and favorably known personally by 
several of the circle, and now comes to us in temporary bodily 
form so complete in identity that the circle at once recognize 
the spirit as the identical Mamie Olney, and although the spirit- 
is not able to talk, yet by actions she manifests delight on being- 
recognized. 

178. Mrs. Sumnierfield Gasaway, also one of our neighbors, 
recently passed to spirit side, leaving husband and three chil- 
dren, two of them grown, was in such complete make-up as that 
the form was at once recognized; expressing much joyfulness at 
being recognized, she said: 

(a) "My experience in spirit life, of course, is very limited,, 
but I hope to be able to relate something to vou before a great 
while." 

(h) Since the transition of Mrs. Gasaway, her husband, af- 
ter a lingering illness, also passed to the spirit life, and Mr. 
Pratt remarked: "Now, after Mrs. Gasaway has so palpably 
greeted us in her own identity, I should like to see her husband,. 
Summerfield Gasaway." 



BEYOXD THE TAIL. 87 

179. In a moment a form. that the secretary recognized as 
Summerneld Gasaway walked right up to the secretary, and con- 
fidentially asked: "Has Mr. Pratt gotten over being so com- 
bative toward me as lie used to be?." 

(a) On assurance of the secretary that Mr. Pratt would 
gladly have him with us and would not trouble him now with 
the old-time coinbativeness, the spirit said: 

(b) "All right, then." And rushed right up to Mr. Pratt 
with face not an arm's length from Mr. Pratt's face. 

The latter said: "Oh, yes! Summerfield, that is you. That 
is Summer's face as plainly as ever I saw it while he was here 
in the earth life." 

(c) The spirit said: "Say, Mr. Pratt, does this, indeed, look 
like Summerneld Gasaway?" 

(d) Pratt: "Why certainly; Summerfield, that is you, and 
1 am glad you are here, and I want your picture some time." 

(e) Spirit: "Perhaps the artist will try for my picture 
before long; and maybe I shall have something to say to you 
soon." 

(/) Mr. Gasaway was a very exemplary citizen in his daily 
walk; was rather a devoted member of the Methodist Episcopal 
Church, but was also quite liberal toward people who differed 
from him in religions opinions; but he had considered Mr. 
Pratt combative in that matter, from Mr. Pratt's earnest 
disposition. 

180. At a seance February 13, 1000, Denton said: "I have 
but little to say now, as this is not a seance for the purpose of 
our publication, but excuse me for this. 

(a) "Some are here to-night to be introduced, and others 
will be here later on. Many of these come up from the fields 
of battle, carnage, and strife, and their purpose here is to try 
to give some lessons for the benefit of humanity in regard to 
conditions upon the earth plane which we cannot modify to the 
entire eradication of evil tendencies. These conditions do not 
stop at death. But when the people become educated concern- 
ing conditions of environment and by the results of environ- 
ments, they certainly will be more charitable. 

(b) "I have met many of those w T ho came up from battle, 
in sudden and unnatural transition, and I learn from them much 
of the effects of war. 

(c) "They say that they have ceased fighting, having learned 
that it is absolutely needless to wage war against one another; 
and they wish to have the world know of their experiences 
which have led them on to these conclusions." 



88 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Seance No. 17. 

February 15, 1900. 
Several of the circle were absent on account of sickness. 

181. Denton said: "We are sorry that sickness prevents 
some being here. We hope and try to prevent these interrup- 
tions, but we cannot always do it, though frequently we do. 

(a) "W T hen over here you will be well all the time ; no more 
sickness, nor pain, nor dying, but always in joyous health. 

182. "Since last here I have had a little wayside experi- 
ence that may be of sufficient merit as that its narration may 
be of some benefit. 

183. "I thought I would go on a journey, in a different 
course — not so much a different course, but another direction — 
and in passing along I met a lady — indeed, many persons, male 
and female. Some of them were praying, some of them were 
weeping, some of them were cursing, and some were jolly, but 
none were in the higher spheres. 

184. "The jolly ones were, for a time, in somewhat elevated 
condition, but soon dropped back to their proper level, and then 
began to advance and hold their ground as gained." 

The Praying Ones. 

185. "I listened to those that were praying, and found 
them repeating the same old forms of prayer their creeds of 
earth had taught them. And they prayed with all the fervor 
of earnest and sincere suppliants, but without avail. Their 
prayers were not answered, and the supplications were repeat- 
ed; and less and less were they answered. And when they had 
prayed and prayed again and again, but unanswered all the time, 
they at last found out that their prayers were not answered; 
either that their God did not exist, did not hear their prayers, 
or would not or could not answer them. 

185J. "And when I found them in a condition to listen and 
willing to learn, 1 approached them and asked: 'Do you know 
to whom and to what you ought to pray? And do you know 
why your prayers are not answered? Listen to me, and I will 
tell you something about what you ought to do and to what you 
should pray.' 

Why Their Prayers Were Not Answered. 

186. (a) "Your prayers were not answered because you 
did not pray to a prayer-answering God. 

(b) "When you will have been in spirit life, whatever dura- 
tion, though thousands of years, you will not find that God to 
whom you have been praying; when you will have met those of 
longer residence here than mine, even though millions of years 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 89 

longer, none will tell you that they kuow of such a God. You 
will at last learn that such a God as you learned about in your 
youthful days on earth does not exist, save only as a myth. 

Human Spirits the Prayer- Answering Power. 

186J. (a) "But as you journey on, you will find the whole 
universe peopled with men and women who, in some past period, 
came into conscious organic existence as you yourself did; 
and you will find that many of them have been in these higher 
schools many thousands of years, and all the while in mental 
training, and therefore some of them relatively omniscient. 
And as this mental training giving rise to knowledge affords 
power, some of the bright ones are almost omnipotent. 

(&) "This is the intelligence and wisdom and power you will 
find in the universe; and that from this source must come what- 
ever answer there is to prayer. 

(c) "Therefore pray to and ask of your brothers and sisters 
in spirit life, in simple confidence; and, sooner or later, you 
will perceive an all-triumphant answer to your every needed 
assistance. 

The Weeping One, and Why. (199.) 

187. (a) "The young lady was weeping. I asked her what 
was the matter. She answered: 'My mother needs help. She 
is so needful, so lonely, so sad! And she has none to help her; 
and she thinks I am yet living in the physical and ought to assist 
her; and oh, if I could go to her and give her troubled spirit 
some relief, what a great burden would be lifted from my own 
poor soul!' 

(&) "I told her to come and go with me and I would find 
her mother and enable her to reach and commune with her 
mother, and break to her some bread of consolation. 

The Mother Comforted. 

188. (a) "This young lady did go with me and we found 
her mother in a most forlorn condition, apparently forsaken by 
all the world, in a most poverty-stricken home and surround- 
ings, sitting in a rickety old chair, the rays of hope and confi- 
dence all fading away into abject darkness. Poor soul! 

(b) "I laid my hand on her head and rekindled hope, and 
the smouldering embers of life began to glow anew, and we 
helped her guides to reach some sympathizing souls; and she 
is now receiving help from mortals, and thanking Providence 
that at last her prayers, her longings have all been heeded by 
some unseen influence which is able to save. 



90 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

Found What Answers Prayer. 

189. (a) "And this weeping young lady found that, if 
prayer be answered, it is not by some mythical God, but bj 
spirits — philanthropic spirits — and she is able to 'shout, shout 
that she 's gaining ground,' and we hope that she will be here- 
to relate for herself her experience in soul-growth. " 

Wesley. 

190. This spirit said: 

(a) "Friends, on our side I haye had much experience, some- 
of which I hope to relate to you later on; and shall now tell you 
of a wayside incident of recent date: 

A Suicide Prevented. 

(b) "Only some two weeks ago I was called back east to a 
part of the country where rocks and mountains abound. 

(c) "There I met a lady standing on a cliff contemplating 
the act of casting herself, at a single bound, upon the rocks far 
below on the floor of the deep valley, by which act to crush her- 
self out of her body in suicide, thinking thereby to terminate 
her miserable existence. 

Just in Time to Save. 

(d) "Just before she would haye made that fatal leap, I was 
enabled to touch her shoulder, and she, realizing the touch, pre- 

'sumed that her father in spirit must haye touched her in remon- 
strance to the proposed rash act; and she resolved not to make 
that awful plunge. She retired from the cliff, began to consider 
the whole matter anew; and now is glad of her miraculous 
escape. 

(e) "But she thinks it was her father that saved her; nev- 
ertheless it was I, and now she is happy." 

Drawing No. 9. (195.) 

191. The artist on this occasion made oue of his best por- 
traits, the same being done under the usual test conditions, and 
was at once recognized as the complete likeness of the late 
George Armstrong, who attended some of the seances of "Rend- 
ing the Vail." (See R, V., paragraph 519.) 

Seance 'No. 18. 

February 18, 1900. 

192. (a) On account of sickness, only four members of the 
circle were present. This seemed such a break in the necessary 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 91 

conditions that phenomena were much modified, and vocaliza- 
tion very feeble, except that the artist did better English than 
at any time previously, and gave a portrait which in some re- 
spects is very excellent; and so far our impression is that it 
much resembles one Dr. Willis (not inserted), of Kokomo, Indi- 
ana, who attended many of our seances in 1891 for "Bending: 
the Vail," 

Dr. Reed, 

193. As usual, opened the seance, and then gave some lit- 
tle outline of the disposition of many spirits on first entering 
spirit life, saying: 

(a) "In my experience I find a great many spirits come 
from earth life in a very darkened condition; and, of course^ 
they gravitate to localities of such corresponding condition; but 
they do not know just where they ought to go, or what to do. 
In fact, many are ignorant of any brighter conditions. Many 
are in a condition of slumbering. 

Means of Leading Darkened Ones to Light. 

194. (a) "But there are intelligences in training, and pre- 
pared to meet and overcome, sooner or later, all obstacles to 
progress, as to each individual case. And these obstacles are 
overcome by directing the course of the individual along such 
lines of experience as will necessarily teach him to know the 
wrong way and the right way, the one from the other. 

io) "So that you may readily perceive it takes great dis^ 
cernment on the part of the guides to see and utilize the proper 
treatment in each individual case. And you can also perceive 
what a great field we have on this side in which to labor. 

(c) "But our greatest labor of patience is to get the dark- 
ened ones to see their condition, and learn the need of our 
assistance, so as willingly to take our advice." 

George Armstrong, (191.) 

195. Whose portrait was made at last seance, stood in 
view of the circle, appearing very nearly as this portrait repre- 
sents, and said: 

(a) "This is George Armstrong. I have but a little history 
of experience on this side to relate; near two years only. 

(6) "Before coming here, as you are aware, I had investi- 
gated much concerning the probable condition in future life; 
and I find that what had been taught to me of spirit life was 
very similar to what I now find to be true; and thus I was pre- 
pared to advance at once. 



92 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



% 




GEORGE ARMSTRONG. 



(195.) 



(e) "I traveled around, as you would say, to see the sights, 
to learn of the curiosities of this life, and found everything so 
nearly like unto what I had learned before transition that it 
almost seemed as though I had met these scenes before. 

(d) "But little way did I travel until I met some who were 
in the dark and searching for light and desired of me to know 
of the true way. And some were able at once, so soon as told, 
to discern the way. And this gave to me great light ahead. 
I hope to be able to meet you again in this way, but for the 
present, good-by." 

Lieutenant Jenkins. 

196. Now comes a spirit, saying: "I am Lieutenant Jen- 
kins of the fatal Maine disaster." 

Mr. House: "Lieutenant, I have heard that you boys of 
the Navy practiced at seances once in a while for pastime. Did 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 98 

you do so in sufficient desire for knowledge that it was of any 
benefit to you?" 

(a) Spirit: "Well, such seances as this were exceedingly 
rare aboard ship, I can tell you, and very few of the boys knew 
anything of this truth. 

(&) "But as for me, I had come into some knowledge and 
great desire to know more. But I knew that it would lead to 
no good for me to divulge any of it to my comrades. 

(c) "I sometimes had prescience, and I felt to know some 
time before the very fate of the Maine as it actually came at 
last; but I warned no one because I felt that none would accept 
the warning. 

(d) "The little knowledge I did have of this truth prepared 
me to realize the life to which the disaster translated me and 
prepared me at once to take cognizance of the situation. 

(e) "But not so with the others. As I would meet them, 
one by one, in a semi-conscious bewilderment, they, finding me 
joyous and happy and leading them on, asked me how it was 
that I was in so much better condition than they. 

(/) "I told them that while on earth I had tried to find out 
something about future life; and that the result was that I did 
find out that it is a fact, and I found out some glimmerings of 
conditions in that life which prepared me to learn and to know 
more of it, as 1 found, as soon as out of my old body, that I 
had even found out that spirits knew of the coming fatality of 
our crew, and that they had told me about it beforehand. 

(g) "And so I was prepared to go right on with my inves- 
tigations of conditions of spirits in spirit life. 

(h) "And so I was able to help my comrades out of dark- 
ness into light along their way. 

(t) "And as I let my lower lights be burning, it sent a 
gleam along my way." 

Scale of Intellectuality. 

197. Some of the circle having questioned the spirits con- 
cerning the standard and scale of intellectuality in spirit life, 
Erastus Coffin, a spirit standing in the view of the circle, said: 

(a) "Those questions you will find fully answered in 'Rend- 
ing the Vail' (894, 2056-2056 d), but we may say here that the 
scale of intellectuality in spirit life is different from that of 
earth life. On the earth plane intellectuality is more a record 
from accumulation of knowledge of physical facts, or of sup- 
posed facts and theories, and sometimes altogether mere theo- 
ries, having no truth whatever, and all of it often without a 
brain of spirituality. 

(b) "Whereas on our side the standard is that of a brain 



«>4 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

well developed, especially as to spirituality. For you must not 
suppose for one moment that a spirit is any more without brain 
organism than the person in the physical. 

11)8. "True education is harmonious brain-development, whether 
in the physical or spiritual condition o.f life. 

(a) "A brain of book learning, of collegiate learning, of 
theological learning, of theoretical make-up, is not necessarily 
education at all. One may have all these and yet pass to spirit 
life with an illiterate spirit brain. Therefore let me repeat and 
emphasize that true educating is developing the spirit brain — 
is brain-cultivation in spirituality. 

(b) "Of course brains must differ, for no two can be de- 
veloped exactly alike; and this is necessary for the mutual 
benefit of all, preventing that monotony that would result in 
stagnation. 

(c) "Mind, in the abstract, may be considered an emanation 
of the intellectuality or of the ability of the soul or spirit to 
•express itself through the brain." 

The Weeping One 

109. That Denton found. (183, 187.) 

(a) A form, as of a woman, "clad in raiment white and 
glistening," standing to view of the circle, speaking in a low but 
•distinct whisper, said: 

(b) "I am the one that the gentleman spoke of the other 
•evening, and to whom he gave assistance as he told you, and 1 
cannot sufficiently express my gratitude toward him therefor. 

(c) "But for that assistance, either by him or some other, 
it is hard to know how long I would have wept, or how would 
liave fared my poor mother. 

(d) "But that gentleman put a ray of light into my soul 
that burns brighter and brighter continually and taught me the 
way to relieve others that I find in lowly, sorrowing, darkened 
conditions, and praying for refuge. 

(e) "Oh, how glad 1 am now, and how thankful to both him 
and to you for this glorious privilege of assisting in the demon- 
stration of spirit return. 

(/) "Therefore, kind friends, I ask you to permit me to 
tender to you in thankfulness my great appreciation of the kind- 
ness shown me here. Good-night." And the spirit faded away 
from our sight. 

Mary Bigelow 

200. Announced her name and said, further: "I am she 
that is Mrs. Steward's mother." 

Mrs. Steward, being in the circle, said: "This is mother. 
How glad I am that you can meet me, mother." 



BEYOSD THE VAIL. 95 

Spirit: "Yes, daughter, this is to me a happy, happy priv- 
ilege. And I am here to inform you of my work in spirit life. 

(a) "It is now assigned as my business to stand on this 
-shore of the river of so-called death and meet undeveloped ones 
as they reach this side and assist them until they are able to 
travel alone, and then I pass them on to other hands. 

(&) "Some of these learn very readily, some are more slow, 
and still others that do not seem to want to know anything; and 
these sometimes require our skill to get them on the way. 

(c) "I find my task a very pleasant one indeed, for the 
pleasure it affords me to see the darker spirits receiving light." 

Seance No. 19. 

February 22, 1900. 

201. Ten of the circle present. 

(a) For music, an automatic music-box is kept going, and 
it is the special business of Mrs. Aber to attend to that music, 
as it needs winding every few minutes, and to be stopped while 
a spirit lady is talking in a whisper. 

(b) The whole circle is nearly all the time engaged in lively 
conversation concerning what is transpiring, excepting when 
some spirit form is discoursing. And often a spirit man will 
discourse so loudly and distinctly that the general conversation 
of the circle goes on during the speaking; and at the same time 
each one of the circle distinctly hears and understands all that 
the spirit says. 

Beginning of Dr. Feed's Written Experiences. 

202. Dr. Reed, in his usual way, opened the seance by salu- 
tation and remarks for encouragement, and then said: 

(a) "As I have not written for some time past, I believe J 
will try again." 

Then the doctor stepped to the writing-desk, picked up a 
tablet and wrote very rapidly a moment, tore the leaf from the 
tablet, took it to the secretary and presented the paper to him, 
saying as he did so, "Mr. Secretary, please, sir, will you accept 
this paper and place it among your files? Thank you, sir." And 
the spirit returned into the cabinet. 

This writing proved to be the beginning of a series illustrat- 
ing "What and Where Are Heaven and Hell?" The reader will 
find a copy of this paper and of this whole series, beginning at 
paragraph 1195, and continuing to paragraph 1210. 

Haunted Houses. 

203. Denton continued in speaking of his experiences 
with unusual volume of voice and eloquent manner, saying: 



96 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(a) "I have lately been to a party. We have parties, ele- 
gant parties, over here. We do not have cake, nor pie, nor dain- 
ties, as you do, but we have other knick-knacks in abundance, of 
which we partake to our full satisfaction. In fact, I have at- 
tended many of those parties, not at the houses of great peo- 
ple, nor always where the elite assemble; but I find at them all 
the tables full of viands, though different tables have different 
viands, but many guests at these parties know not of the rich 
food with which the tables are laden, hungering though they 
be and famishing, often; yet need to be shown of the good things 
there. And some of the houses where parties assemble are 
called by you people of earth 'haunted houses.' 

(I) "And the kind of people that make up the parties of 
these haunted houses are, in the main, what we sometimes call 
'earth-bound spirits' — spirits that are so poor in spirituality 
as to be attracted to and held in earthly conditions. 

(c) "Not evil spirits, but undeveloped spirits, we might say. 
Generally, spirits of murdered persons whose earth career has 
been suddenly cut short, and certain magnetic conditions at- 
tract them to places having such conditions about them. 

(d) "The great law of evolution seems to be sufficiently 
self-intelligent to place each of its subjects in the needed condi- 
tions according to the plane of development to carry it forward 
in direct line to its highest consummation. 

(e) "Therefore these spirits visit haunted houses and find 
themselves able to arrest attention of mortals by noises, and 
also to attract to their assistance spirits who are able to help 
them on their way. 

(f) "As a general thing, when they make their presence 
known to mortals sufficiently to be recognized by mortals, they 
are thereby assisted to so much of the bread of life as enables 
them to move on and cease their visits to or lingering about 
the haunted house. 

(g) "And, if mortals be not found who will try to help them 
along, the more intelligent spirits soon find a way to pass them 
along from the conditions of the haunted house? 

(h) "I have met many who seemed to care for nothing but 
to make a racket and to use their energies and time in such 
way — they seem to know nothing of any higher attainments 
for themselves — and some who did not want to know anything 
else. 

(i) "I have talked with them and advised them to seek 
other and better occupations. I have told them of the higher 
conditions they could attain to, and I have been enabled to pre- 
vail on many to seek, and they did as told them and found the 
better way. 



BEYOXD THE TAIL. 97 

(/) Some ask, 'Why and bow is it that you know so much?" 
They say they can find no such conditions as I tell them of. 

204. u One says: k l tried to live right, and I tried to teach 
the people the right as I thought, and to show them the true 
light. Now how is it that you come to me as though I had 
missed the true way and undertake to tell me of things I fail 
to find?' 

(a) "I say to him: 'I see here about these haunted houses 
many of your pupils. This is not the kind of country you 
taught them about, and you have hunted and they have hunted 
for such personages as you taught them is God, and you find Him 
not. Nor do you find any such kingdom as you taught would 
be found. You find no such Son of God as you taught. You 
find no such Savior, either. All this ought to make you begin 
to think that maybe your teaching was wrong, and maybe these 
other people here are here because they trusted in yon.' 

(6) "He says: 'I taught what I thought was the truth and 
I was diligent in giving out the highest light I had, and that 
ought to excuse [atone] me; and I don't understand why not.' 

The Reasons of the Difference. 

205. " 'The reason of my advantage on this side of life is~. 
that I was always open to secure anything true in exchange for 
any error. 

(a) u 'But you went to the old stump-mill all your life just 
because your father and old Mother Grundy did. 

(b) u 'You, without question, filled your soul with the theo- 
logical dry husks that your fathers and favored pulpit gave 
you, and shut your soul up on that food and utterly refused to< 
take any other soul-food. 

in " 'And you get here, having your soul almost lost from 
starvation. You fed your confidants on this famishing food, and 
thus starved their souls, until they, too, must come out of it 
by taking small portions, until their souls will grow strong here 
as they should have been when they came here. 

Denton's Faith' and TeacMiuj. 

200. (a) " 'I did not believe in a God as that word is gen- 
erally understood to represent. It was contrary to all the evi- 
dences I could get hold of. I did not believe in such God en- 
throned in a great court-house, with a Son as prosecutor; nor 
the golden harps, nor the other fellow. 

(&) " 'I taught what T believed, and I also taught to my 
listeners that they would not go to an endless hell just because 
they would not accept my teaching. 

(c) " 'I taught that each man was his own heaven, his own 
hell, and his own Savior. 

bv — 7 



98 BEYOND THE JAIL. 

(d) " 'That no personal Savior would meet us on the farther 
shore, but there, if found worthy, we would find the out- 
stretched hands of our loved ones gone before. 

(e) " 'Well, I came over here some time ago and have never 
met that personal God nor any of your concomitants of Him; 
but instead found my old friends, and they took me right around 
because I was willing to go and know more. 

(/) " 'You came here and found just what I did, but you 
would not be willing to give up your old idols for truth; and 
hence you are in darkness. 

207. " 'Now you can get away from that darkness into the 
light and glorious condition of truth by asking of good spirits 
to lead you on and by a resolution to find out and return the 
truth to those who have been misled. 

(a) " 'You see now that you have to learn nearly all anew, 
and as soon as you sincerely desire to begin to learn, good spir- 
its will find you out and right willingly help you along.' 

(b) "In this way I have obtained attention of many, and 
led them out of their darkened conditions along the road of 
light and truth. 

208. "So, friends, you may help these darkened ones along 
wherever you find them, whether at haunted houses or else- 
where. And let me tell you, friends, that the haunted house is 
beginning to attract the attention of the people of your earth. 

Prophecy of a Change. 

209. "Now I might say that very soon there is going to be 
a change, a great change in this spiritual movement. Spiritu- 
alists must wake up, will wake up to a realizing sense of the 
proper conditions required among Spiritualists themselves, to 
place it on a proper basis — such a basis as it can live and grow 
upon, not one that will permit its superstructure to fall away 
into decay and death. 

209 -J. "Look at the National Spiritual Association. Look 
at it. Examine it. Be sore you know and understand its basis. 
Whether it is Spiritualism or an attempt to repeat the crime 
of the ages: to reduce to a caste, to a tithe's censorship. And I 
say again: Beware of what basis you place this great light upon." 

Wesley. 

210. "I have but little to say this evening. Remember, 
friends, that all houses are visited by spirits. I have had much 
experience, but the artist has quite a work, and there is other 
work that will require all the strength. So I give way, but I 
am glad to be able for even this little word with you." 

211. And here is Daniel O'Brien now, talking through the 



(») 


"Oi says to him: 


(«) 


"And he says: 


ee ye?' 




(d) 


"And Oi says : '< 


W 


"And he says: 


(/) 


"And Oi says: ' 


(S) 


"And he savs: * 


(*) 


"And Oi says : <r . 



BEY USD THE VAIL. 99 

trumpet in almost deafening tones, saluting: "And how do you 

all do this avening. Maybe Oi have a bit of experience jist, Oi 

do' know. 

(a) "Oi met a felly what was taken off with his shoes on. 

He saw me as Oi came round and he says: 'Say, suit, can yese 

tell me where Oi am?' 

'Me dear suit, ye are dead.' 

Me God! Am Oi dead? And who 

'Oi am Daniel O'Brien.' 

Where are you?' 
'Oi am in the spirit world.' 
'Where is that, and what is it?' 
'That is where they kape jist sich chaps 
as you when ye know more.' 

(0 "And he says: 'Ain't Oi in the same place as ye?' 
(/) "And Oi says : 'No, surr, not yet.' 
(Jc) "And he says: 'Well, Oi 'm going there with you.' 
(T) "And Oi says: 'It will cost ye something; but ye can 
work your fare out as ye go, but Oi can go straight through on 
me pass.' 

"So ye see that poor felly thought he was already where Oi 
am; but he is glad to get here now, even by working his way, 
for he was reckoned a bad egg while he was on earth. 

212. "Say, Misther Secretary, did you know Jesse James?" 
Secretary: "Only from reputation." 

Spirit: "Well, surr, Oi met that felly the other day. Why 
is it that Oi have to mate sich as he, so much?" 
Circle: "Perhaps vou were much like him." 
Spirit: "Not at all, not at all. Was Oi, Mr. Pratt?" 
Pratt: "No, Dan, I always thought you a pretty good fel- 
low all round. I did not know of any bad traits you had at all. 
You were just an all-round good, jolly Irishman." 

Secretary: "It may be that it is part of your duty to help 
those fellows along a bit." 

Spirit: "Well, thet 's jist what Oi thry to do, surr." 
Lady in the circle: "Why, the police pretend to think Jesse 
James is yet alive here." 

Spirit: "My good lady. I can't help what the police or any- 
body else think about it, but Jesse James is over here all the 
same." 

213. And now comes the artist and in his usual way exe- 
cutes that wonderful illustration of Grace, No. 11. standing in 
the room looking at the emaciated body she had just gone out 
t)f. (See pargraph 1100.) 

L.ofC. 



100 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

George Washington. 

Then, this being February 22d, there came forth a form re- 
sembling the common portrait of George Washington. And 
straightway several of the circle simultaneously exclaim: 

214. "George Washington!" And the spirit, replying, said 
"Yes, friends, this is indeed George Washington, whom you re- 
gard as father of your country. I am very happy for this privi- 
lege of being introduced to you. 

(a) "I have had a very great experience since my transla- 
tion to this side of life. I have met and helped many needy 
souls, and have also been much assisted by brighter ones than I. 

(o) "I have met your great Lincoln. We are both along 
the same lines. I may be permitted, by and by, to meet you 
again and relate to you something that may be of benefit to 
some souls along the way." 

215. Then there was an experiment of a message between 
two slates, given while the slates were fastened together with 
screws, the fastening having been done by Mr. House, and the 
slates held by Mr. and Mrs. House and Mrs. Aber as the work 
of writing and drawing was being done, and the sound of 
the writing was distinctly heard by all the circle while it was 
being done. The result was a beautiful portrait in colors, drawn 
inside of those slates during the sitting, together with much 
writing also inside the slates. 

Seance No. 20. 

February 25, 1900. 

216. Eleven of the circle present. After the reading and 
passing upon the secretary's report of last previous meeting, 
Spirit Reed opened the seance by a short invocation, thus: 

(a) "Friends, we approach you this evening from our 
bright realms, and implore you to present toward us your high- 
est and purest and best thoughts, so that we may draw nigh 
unto you with fragrance of garlands from the purer homes of 
dwellers in the spirit world." 

217. Denton said: "I met a spirit who very lately came 
over here and whom 1 find to be very progressive. I hope he 
will be here later on." 

Wesley Aber. 

218. "Friends, you may, perhaps, remember that a little 
while ago I spoke to you about my being instrumental in rescu- 
ing a lady from suicide. 

(a) "I have seen her again and had her to realize that spir- 
its are about her, until she has become interested in the beau- 
tiful philosophy growing out of spirit return. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 101 

(b) "And now she is earnestly studying and advancing in 
the held of Spiritualism. 

(c) "So, dear friends, you may see that we have work to 
do all the time, and our work is often grandly efficacious." 

219. The following is an experience intended to illustrate 
that some spirits are often greatly benefited by attendance at 
seances: 

(a) A spirit that was entirely strange to the circle came 
forth in visible form and said: "Why, where am I? How 
strange this all is to me! They told me I was dead, but here I 
am, clothed upon as of old time — coat, vest, pants — how is this? 
I don't feel dead. 1 feel much as I used to. Who are you, and 
who am I?" 

(&) Circle: "We are men and women not yet dead, as it 
is called. You are a spirit. You are out of that old body and 
in the spirit world. How did you get in here?' 7 

(c) Spirit: "I don't know, sir. I just woke up right here. 
How is it? So strange! Am I dead? I seem alive! Am I in 
the spirit world? I seem just as I always did. Where did I get 
these clothes — these nice clothes?" 

Circle: "That gentleman in that place — we call it cabinet 
— you just came out of it, you know; that gentleman and others 
found you and clothed you, and sent you out here, so we could 
help to wake you up and get you fixed up to go to nice places 
and people; and if you go and ask them, they will show you what 
a nice country you are in, and explain all about it and help you 
along. What is your name?" 



Spirit 
Circle 
Spirit 



"I don't know." 

"Where did you live last, as you can remember?" 

"Michigan, that was my home. I must go. Some 



one calls me. Good-night. Thank you, sir." 

J. L. Greenup, (Portrait R. V., 2930.) 

220. Speaking very rapidly, though clearly and distinctly, 
said: 

(a) "I was what in your country is called a preacher, and 
for a number of years I officiated as an authorized minister of 
the gospel. Well, I came to this side of life very sure of being 
one of the few that had spent a life on earth in the 'straight 
and narrow way'; and that I was sure of heaven up near to the 
throne and Jesus, waiting, would escort me to the presence of 
His Father, the King Eternal, and have me seated at His Fa- 
ther's right hand. 

(b) "But no. I met some of my long-ago parishioners, and 
I thought that was all right, sure, and they would be my escort. 

(c) "And, sure enough, they were; but to escort me out of 



102 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

my old preaching by passing me along among those who had 
been misled by my -old preaching. 

(d) "Well, sir, I soon found that I had to do more preach- 
ing than ever to overcome the darkness of my lifelong preach- 
ing on earth. 

(e) "Oh, if I had only known of this grand philosophy of 
Spiritualism while on earth, and preached that, how much more 
gladly could I have approached those on this side! 

(/) "Yes, dear son [J. M. Greenup of the circle] and friends, 
I am preaching yet; but J am now preaching Spiritualism as the 
truth that I ought to have learned and preached long ago." 

An Impediment of Speech. 

221. One came to view that seemed to have an impediment 
of speech, stammered away a little time, and retired. 

Thomas Paine 

222. Comes forth, and in his wonderfully eloquent manner 
and full volume of voice made a discourse mostly touching upon 
the subject of -Materialization" (K. V., 2143-2148, 2219-2221), 
saying: 

(a) "I cannot understand why it is that some people who 
can think scientifically upon most subjects, who are able to see 
and classify facts of almost the whole material universe, and 
reach conclusion of absolute truth upon a material basis, and 
absolutely refuse to see or meddle with facts in the field of 
psychics; and if they do accidentally see a few facts in that 
line, they force the facts to false conclusions. 

(b) "Why is it, friends, that people of sound minds cannot 
think scientifically of psychic facts, while they are held to be 
of sound mind on all other lines of thought? 

The Spirit of Flora Materializing. 

223. "They see the grass growing in the spring and sum- 
mer time; they see the orchards putting forth buds, and leaves,, 
and flowers; they see the forest trees being clothed upon with 
their vernal garments. They plant seeds of all plants, and trees, 
and flowers, and vegetables, and witness the seeds bursting forth, 
and the life of the seeds begins to attract to itself the neces- 
sary materials from the soil and the atmosphere to form the 
desired bodies of 'kind after kind, each seed after its kind.' 

(a) "They see the life of the corn come forth, clothing it- 
self with stalk, and leaves, and tassel, and husks, and beautiful 
silks; and out of it all, clothe itself* with the kernel of corn to 
be planted and again come forth materialized to visible shape 



BEYOXD THE TAIL. 103 

next year; and the life of the kernel of wheat, being sown or 
planted, clothes itself with material, visible form after its kind; 
and the life of the acorn bursting from its shell gathers from 
invisible air and transparent water its materialized form of 
the grand old oak tree. 

(&) "Why do these men see the life and spirit of the flora 
of the whole earth materialize, each kind a body after its kind, 
and deny that the life of the spirit of man can come out of its 
original body and materialize for itself a temporary body also? 

(c) "In fact, friends, to deny materialization is to deny the 
existence of the law of the perpetuation of species, and reduces 
all things to the imagination of nothing with which to imagine 
— to hypnotism with no hypnotism nor anything to hypnotize. 

Animal Life Materializing. 

224. (a) "The horse eats corn and hay, and the horse 
spirit or life reproduces horse. 

(b) "The cow eats hay and corn, and her spirit reproduces 
cow. 

(c) "The hog eats grass and corn, and reproduces hog. 

(d) "The birds of the air eat corn, and out of it reproduce 
birds that clothe themselves with beautiful biped bodies, and 
with feathers instead of hair. 

Life Not the Result of Organization. 

225. (a) "If life is the result of organization, it must be 
an intelligent force that. produces the organism. 

'(b) "If life is by virtue of the organism, why does corn 
produce hair on the hog, cow. and horse, feathers on the bird, 
and wool on the sheep? If life is the result of organism, what 
made the organism? 

Man Has Innate Omnipotence. 

226. (a) "If it is possible for me to make a snowball, it is 
possible for me to make something else, and form that some- 
thing else more complex. Scientific reason, then, must carry 
you right on to any materialization. 

(b) "The little one comes into your world, makes for itself 
part of a new body every day, and a whole body of flesh and 
blood every year, and an entirely new skeleton every seven 
years. In fifty years, fifty bodies of flesh and blood and seven 
skeletons. 

(c) "What is there to hinder the spirit from making a tem- 
porarv bodv after the old body is planted in the ground? (JR. 
V., 2449.) 

Materialization in Harmony with Every Known Law. ' 

227. (a) "Ave, mv friends, instead of materialization be- 



104 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

ing unreasonable, contrary to known facts, and absurd in gen- 
eral, it is in strict harmony with every observable fact in the 
whole of Nature's material and spiritual realms. 

Effect of Persistent Effort to Howl Down Phenomena. 

228. [a) "Yet learned men of your world, whenever the 
subejct is mentioned, exclaim, 'Too absurd to think about!' And 
self-styled scientific Spiritualists, with their, own temporarily 
materialized tongues, claim, 'Too preposterous to stop one mo- 
ment to consider.' And some of the spiritualistic press can 
hardly find any other word fit for its columns on this subject 
but 'fraud' from top to bottom. Of course there may be char- 
latans here, as in every other psychic department, but no more. 
All else must go when materialization goes, and the persistent 
efforts to howl it down discredit the whole of psychic preten- 
sions, and has a tendency to send to this side of life spirits so 
steeped with the idea of the impossibility of spirit return in vis- 
ible form that they think, for quite a while, the whole of Spir- 
itualism is fraud. 

Paine Argues the Case ivith Misled Spirits. 

229. (a) "But I have shown some of them that there is a 
road open from this side back to the cognizance of mortals. 

(b) "Then, afterwards, they have wished to know how it 
is that I should know so much about this grand and glorious 
philosophy, and why they did not know it before. 

(c) "And I said to them: 'You claim to be scientific, and at 
the same time you shut your eyes to the facts that continually 
invited your attention, and you twisted the facts K)ut of their 
obvious teaching into an unwarrantable conclusion, just to 
please Mother Grundy, or for fear of spoiling somebody's re- 
ligion. And thus your own soul w r as shut up against hunting 
for the truth; you refused to see the light that shone all around 
you; and your stubborn soul said, even over here, "I don't be- 
lieve it, and I shall not fool my time away just to overthrow 
my established faith ; I don't believe it," you said, "and that set- 
tles it." That is the reason that the clouds of ignorance shut 
you away from this great light.' 

Paine Lived Close to Nature as His Mother. 

230. (a) "Whereas, while I was not conversant with Spir- 
itualism while on earth, I felt that in Nature it is well grounded. 
I lived close to Nature. I w r as willing to listen to the voice of 
Nature. When Nature spoke to me, it was like the voice of a 
loving; mother, and no God dare tell me not to heed the voice 
of mother. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 105 

(b) "Therefore I came to the spirit world with my soul 
trusting in the good mother who had brought me into and 
through that world and across the tomb into these glorious gar- 
dens of hers; and my mother showed me all through her beauti- 
ful gardens, and my soul gladly listened to the sweet caroling 
of dear mother; and she opened to me the grandeur of this side 
of life, and bade me welcome to partake of the 'fruit of the 
trees of life.' 

(c) "And I found the light of the eternal spheres beyond 
sweetly shining into my soul. And then I heard the voices of 
famishing souls coming up in prayer for assistance out of dark- 
ness. And Mother Nature said she had filled my baskets for 
her unfortunate children, and sent me to find the hungry souls, 
and I met you and you w T ere made happy, and I am glad. So I 
shall continue to help man and woman wherever I can lend a 
helping hand, so long as Dame Nature permits. 

Paine' s Experience with the Indolent Ones. 

231. (a) "Dear friends, I find some who are indolent. 1 
met one in particular that will illustrate what I mean. 

(b) "This one desired that I stop and tell him of spirit life, 
and I said to him: 'Sir, you are not capable of knowing any- 
thing about it, though I talk to you an age.. You have come 
over here with your earth habits, and you just sat down, and 
still you sit there, not trying to learn anything from your own 
exertions. Nobody can know for you. You have not tried to 
learn. You must get up and move around, the same here as on 
earth. If I had sat down as you have, and shut myself up from 
all light, like a clam in its shell, I would be as ignorant as any- 
body. You should get up and resolve to look up the light for 
yourself, and soon you would sense the sweet aromas of Na- 
ture's intellectual gardens.' 

None but Those Prepared Go to Higher Spheres. 

"Friends, I hope to be able to visit some of the higher 
spheres and report thereof to you. But none can personally go 
there until fully prepared by thorough experiences on the way 
below." 

232. Then some spirit came out in front of the cabinet and 
said: "Spiritualism chases away the gloom of the grave, and 
strews the valley of death with flowers." 

Bucananna. 

233. One came forth, speaking in rather indistinct, muffled 
utterances at first, but shortly the voice became quite clear and 
distinct, saying as follows: 



10(5 BEYOXD THE TAIL. 

(a) "'Well, friends, I am glad to come again. Do you know 
that we enjoy these discourses the same as you do? And cer- 
tainly Ave were intenselj 7 delighted with that elegant address of 
Mr. Paine. 

(b) "Friends, don't be afraid to let your light shine among 
the people. While many on earth may speak lightly of you, and 
call you crazy, remember that great hosts of friends on this side 
are standing by you, and will remember you here. There are 
more people in spirit life than on earth. Neither have we in- 
sane or crazy people over here; but generally we find more wise 
ones on this" side than on earth. (R. V., 2064, 2065.) 

(c) "We meet persons over here, however, who discuss this- 
matter of spirit return to mortals; but in our discussions here 
we do not get excited as you do, and therefore our discussions 
are of better resuHfs than yours. 

(cl) "I met a preacher, and we had quite a discussion, in 
which I told him that I had also been a preacher. 

(e) "And he said: 'As you have opened your heart, I will 
tell you how it is with me. I preached the dogmas of the so- 
called church. I told my people about those things, none of 
which I could prove: but though I worked faithfully among my 
people, I find that I taught them much that they with me find 
untrue. But I thought it right, and cannot understand why, 
when T did the best I knew, I should be held back and advance 
so much more slowly than some.' 

(/) " 'I shall try to tell you. You now admit teaching what 
you could not prove. You could easily have known of this fact 
of spirit return and its concomitants; and, had you Tmown it,. 
in your preaching you could have taught what you could have 
proven, and your revivals would have been more ^successful; 
and on this side the ignorance of your deluded followers would 
not haunt you at every step. 

(g) " 'Why don't you go to those whom you have taught 
wrong, and confess to them and tell them of the truth as you 
now find it? My dear friend, you have but to do this, and light 
from upper glory will soon beam upon you.' " 

Margaret Dayton, 

234. While in the physical, attended these seances here, 
and some three years ago passed to spirit life. She is sister 
to Mrs. House, who is now a member of our circle, with her 
husband, C. V. N. House. Margaret has visited us several times- 
recently and spoken with her sister and brother-in-law, prom- 
ising them that soon she would p;ive to us a little of her 
experience. So, on this occasion, after appearing near to Mrs. 
House and engaging in a lively conversation about things of 
long ago and beauties of spirit life, she walked over to a point 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 107 

near the secretary, and there standing in sight of and facing the 
circle, being clad in garments brilliantly white, said: 

(a) * k Mr. Nixon, you have heretofore reported me as prom- 
ising to give you people some account of my experience in spirit 
life, and I am here now to try to redeem that promise; and, 
first, I knew much of the country to which I was going and of 
its inhabitants, and as my eyes closed to scenes of earth, they 
opened to behold great hosts of my old comrades who had gone 
before. 

{])) "They were so glad, so happy, that I had come. They 
appeared to be happy souls, as though at a great wedding. And 
there was sweet music, glorious music. 

(c) "This great concourse of joyous celestials, so soon as I 
had rested a little, escorted me to their homes of beauty; and 
finally, as though by the whole spirit world, filled with beauti- 
ful, glad beings in enraptured delight, I was escorted to my 
home — to my beautiful home. I cannot portray its beauty and 
grandeur to you mortals, but it fills my every ideal of a delight- 
ful home. 

(d) "And when I was prepared, I was taken about and 
shown lowly conditions, cases of sadness. How much there is 
to be done to help the upfortunate! 

(e) "And then the little babes that are sent over here! So 
many of them to be cared for, to be educated. And in this great 
field I beheld where I could fill the yearnings of my soul in 
works of philanthropy. 

(/) "So I took on the duty of caring for the babes, for the 
little waifs of humanity, as it were. And I am happy in my 
calling. And my soul is growing so rapidly that new light is 
continually dawning upon me. So we have work to do — work 
which, if we gladly do, our reward therefor is inestimable." 

(g) It might be well for the reader to contemplate for one 
solemn moment this triumphant experience of one who was a 
Spiritualist — not a mere spiritist, but a whole-souled Spiritual- 
ist — in practical life on earth, and then compare with experi- 
ences of those who never knew nor practiced the teachings of 
the higher life as given through spirit return. 

235. Little Nellie, in full form and bright apparel, stood to 
view of the circle, talking in childish fashion of one of her feats 
of relief recently, thus: 

(a) A mother was in great distress, and that troubled 
her child in spirit life, and the child in spirit life came across 
Little Nellie and told her about it, and Nellie reported the 
case to 

(b) Dr. Reed and to Samuel Schmidt; and soon a way was 
provided so that mother's child could reach its mother and help 
her out of the deep sorrow and gloom in which the mother had 



108 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

been, and the mother is happy, and her child is happy, and try- 
ing to make others happy. 

236. Reed continues his written narrative. (1197.) 

Seance No. 21. 

March 1, 1900. 

237. Because of inclement weather, three of the circle were 
absent. Any break in the circle, as well as any new addition, 
almost always modifies phenomena; therefore the phenomena 
were hardly so brilliant as at the previous seances, yet very 
excellent. Reed, in opening the seance, said: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. It is a glorious privilege, and 
I am happy to meet you all. A few on your side are not here, 
but we cannot help that. We on our side are always on time, 
although our difficulties are, in some respects, greater than 
yours, and we do the best we possibly can for you, at all times, 
according to conditions obtainable. 

(b) "You can hardly realize the triumphant reception to 
this side of life of one who is prepared to enter here. Not only 
hosts of friends on the immortal side of life, or, I should say, 
on spirit side, in joy and gladness meet such, but joyful proces- 
sions, headed by bands of music, such grand, delightful music 
mortal ears did never hear, receive and escort the newborn 
spirit about some of the beautiful homes and scenes over here. 

Meets an Old-Time Friend. 



rtOi 



538. (a) "But this is not the privilege of all. No, no, not 
by any means! Not long since I met an old-time Mend of mine 
who long time ago came to this side. 

(b) "And although I have been here many years myself, I 
had not seen, heard of, or met in any way this dear old friend. 
Why I could not find him I did not know, but I now learn the 
reason to be that he was not in my department, as I had sup- 
posed he should have been. 

(c) "This meeting, however, was a great surprise to both 
of us, and the result of our meeting will be that in a relatively 
short time this old friend of mine will be able to get upon the 
plane where I am. 

(d) "I relate this as an incident that may be of curious 
novelty to your information of this country." 

Wesley on the Healing Practice. 

239. (a) "Friends, it may be of interest to say a little here 
about the healing practice. 

(b) "There are those in spirit life that engage in healing, 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 109 

and make it their business to know of most efficacious remedial 
means to reduce any given abnormal condition to that of the 
normal condition, whether in spirit life or on the earth plane. 

(c) "Of course, in spirit there is not found what is known 
to you as disease; but at the same time there are plenty of 
cases of inharmonious spiritual conditions to manage, and the 
treatment used by spirits is magnetic or electro-magnetic, as 
the case seems to require, whether in the mortal or spiritual. 

(d) "Spirits do not depend upon drugs for any condition, 
but upon some application of the magnetic and electro-magnetic. 
There is no other way of healing, only from the spirit side. All 
healing is done by means of spirit magnetism, even though the 
doctors claim that drugs themselves give relief. We need no 
M.D.'s over here. While all here are well, there are those in 
dark surroundings. 

(e) "They look sick, but are only in darkened conditions. 
When you get sick, call on your guides. Trust them for aid, 
and you are as safe as possible for yourselves." 

240. The anonymous Michigan spirit who appeared at the 
last seance as for the first of his experience in the phenomena 
of spirit return, and seemingly not before having known that 
he had been taken into spirit life, now comes to thank us and 
the spirit band here for giving him the means of advancing. 

(a) He says he is now improving rapidly. He says, also, 
that since the last seance he met a fellow who is entirely ignor- 
ant of any way to mortal side. That he told that fellow that 
he had been to a seance, and that the fellow said: "A seance! 
What is that?" "I told the fellow," said he, "that it is a meet- 
ing of those on earth and some of those in spirit life where 
spirits can talk to mortals, and I told the fellow all about what 
occurred here, and the fellow, being very immoral, said he did 
not believe a — word of it (excuse me, ladies), but I told him 
of all that occurred and how it helped me already, and that I 
was going back. 

(b) "And by this time his curiosity began to get excited, 
and he swore that he would go with me to the next seance. I 
told him, 'No; you will not go with me until you have a little 
common decency. Quit your profanity, fix up a little, so you 
appear somewhat civilized, before you can go with me.' 

240^. "Then I met another fellow and told him about this 
matter, and he was awfully surprised and glad to be made to 
hope it all true, and he said: 'I must try to find out for my- 
self about it and would be glad if you help me.' 

(a) "I told him that I would get all I could and let him 
know of what light I could; and T am going to find out myself 
and help him what I can. 



HO BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(b) "I thank you all and those spirits in there for so fur 
helping me along." 

Denton Talks a Little Concerning the Booh. 

241. (a) "It appears to me that we are doing nicely with 
the book. Why, how are you, Mr. Pratt?" 

Pratt: ik l am getting along quite well, and glad that you 
are with us this evening." 

(b) Spirit: "Yes, sir. We are all glad. I have had much 
to do since the last seance. We are at work all the time gath- 
ering elements, providing ways and means and matter for the 
book; and hope to make a complete success of it and be able 
to present it to the people as one of the greatest books of the 
age. You should realize what we are doing — how difficult our 
task. Because we better realize the great difficulties than you 
do, I suppose it is more mysterious to us than to you. 

(c) "In this work we expect to far surpass the other in 
general interest to the people. It will not embrace so much 
close, scientific scrutiny, and the general reader will be more 
on a plane with this work; and especially will the work of our 
artist attract attention, and even close scrutiny." 

Anonymous, No. 8. 

242. Another new and anonymous spirit appears and tries 
to talk a little, but beyond getting us to understand that this 
is his first knowledge and experience of spirit return, we get 
but little from him farther than that it is a very agreeable sur- 
prise to him. 

Thomas Paine, 

243. Who does the most, complete oratorical vocalization 
of all, though Denton is simply grand, and ere long Ingersoll 
may approach him, but Paine, for a moment only at this seance, 
greeted us, saying: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. I want to say just a little word 
to you this evening, and assure you that this is a grand oppor- 
tunity for you and for us. 1 wish thousands could hear me as 
you do. But perhaps if they were to, most of them, in face 
of this voice and this presence, yet in their prejudice, would not 
think it possible that this can be a spirit back to earth. Mr. 
Secretary, you know how, in presentation of the demonstration 
of a scientific and mechanical fact, science itself said it is some- 
thing else." 

244. [Here is reference to the legends that about the time 
Robert Fulton got his little boat ready for its trial trip up the 
Hudson River, there was, at a point on the river-bank some forty 
or fifty miles above New York city, a man discoursing to quite 



BEYOXD THE VAIL. Ill 

an audience of people as to how utterly and foolishly absurd the 
notion that steam, "a light and bland vapor that may be blown 
away by human breath, could be made to propel a boat up 
stream/' and while the man was proving to his audience on the 
banks of the Hudson that Fulton was too insane to be allowed 
to run at large, and how they might stand there a whole year 
and not at all see the boat; that such an event was too foolish 
for any man of sense to tarry a moment in expectation of see- 
ing — but wiiile the man is in the height of his forensic effort — 
hark! behold! down the river smoke is seen, a strange noise 
heard; nearer it comes, puffing away until at last, in full view, 
she comes, and Fulton's triumphant boat trial goes by the aston- 
ished steam infidel spokesman, and someone shouts: "The boat 
floats up stream like a swan on still water. What do you say 
now, doctor?" 

Doctor: "Yes, she moves, bat any fool might know that 
some other power than steam drives the boat along. The devil 
may, but steam never." 

Dr. Lardner. 

245. And another example: When steam navigation of the 
ocean was being discussed, oue great Dr. Lardner took the sci- 
entific rostrum in England, and convinced scientific and finan- 
cial people of the realm of the utter folly of such an undertak- 
ing, and then this great scientific Dr. Lardner came to Kew 
York and electrified immense audiences with his wonderful sci- 
entific proof that practical oceanic steam navigation would 
never be an accomplished fact. These lectures were so popu- 
lar in America that the doctor organized a tour of the coun- 
try and was everywhere met by vast paying audiences shout- 
ing: "Great is Dr. Lardner!" But w T hile the doctor was mov- 
ing in triumphal march among the American people and prov- 
ing beyond doubt the absurd foolishness of such an undertak- 
ing, some Yankee boys went to work and built a steamship 
and got her ready to cross the ocean just as the doctor got 
ready to return to England. He was invited to take this 
steamship, and it is said he did go back home aboard that 
steamer, having his coffers well filled from his lectures. And 
the steamship became a mighty success, while the fame of Dr. 
Lardner went down to "unremembered nothingness."] 

246. But Paine spoke on. saying: "Friends, I believe all 
should know my sentiments after my actual experience of all 
these years in spirit life; and T have no other such means as 
this circle affords, and thus through this book promulgate my 
sentiments to your world. 

(a) "As much as you may know of this matter, none of 
vou can realize what it is for us to talk to you. But Dr. Reed 



112 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

is the great scientific power here behind the throne, as it were, 
to whom we, as well as yourselves, are indebted for this tri- 
umphal bridge spanning the two worlds at this point. 

(&) "Not only those who know nothing of spirit and spirit 
return, but some Spiritualists could not, would not listen nor 
comprehend it possible for Thomas Paine to thus discourse 
here or elsewhere to mortals." 

Mr. Pratt's Mother, 

247. Standing out in clear white, whispered of a little 
experience she has had, saying: 

(a) "Among my own very many and different experiences, 
I met a good old lady who while on earth believed in total anni- 
hilation. Of course she did not expect but that when the last 
breath was drawn, eternal unconscious sleep was hers. And 
when she awoke on this side, she could not realize that she had 
passed the ordeal of death. 

(&) "So deeply had her earthly idea of eternal sleep ground 
into her soul that she would not listen to her friends who told 
her she was not dead, but was in the spirit world. At last, 
however, she was led to realize her situation, and she became 
a faithful pupil, and soon was on her glad way toward the 
realms of light." 

(c) And as Mrs. Pratt faded away, a different personage 
took her place, who said: "I am Betsey McPherin, and just 
came as an escort to Mrs. Pratt," and instantly vanished. 

248. And suddenly Mamie Olney stood to view in such 
realistic and innocent girlhood appearance as to affect Mr. 
Pratt to a degree that he could not speak to the spirit, and this 
bright one faded away. Indeed, this was an affecting scene! 
Affecting to the circle because, as she was fading away, she 
pointed toward the home of her parents and sisters living but 
a few blocks away, mourning continually for Mamie, but will 
not permit themselves to go one step toward where they could 
meet Mamie standing in glorified form before them. 

Daniel O'Brien, 

249. Through the trumpet, in loud tones as usual, said: 
"How do you all do?" 

Answer: "Well as usual." 

Spirit: "Glad of that; and how do you do, Mr. Pratt?" 

Pratt: "First rate, Daniel." 

Spirit: "Oi 'm glad of that. Oi met yonr good old mother. 
She 's a good old soul, always busy, always doing something.. 
And Oi saw Betsey [McPherin] with her. Say, Mr. Pratt, when- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 113 

iver Oi come into this presence, the old toimes comes so viv- 
idly to me mind." 

250. Lorenzo Aber said: 

(a) "I am not a stranger here. I thought I would come 
and announce myself to you once more. 

(b) "I feel that each of you should feel very happy, al- 
though you are api>roaching nearer home, and your earthly ties 
are weakening, so many of your old friends are gone, nearly 
all gone. Yet you have learned here that but little way and 
you will meet them all again. I am glad I was a Spiritualist 
before I left earth for this beautiful home. 

251. kk I saw my son [Wesley] approaching the river, but 
he, too, was a Spiritualist, and no dark waters rolled between, 
but a bark of pure light Jbore him across and into his father's 
embrace, and my daughter came; but she would not know who 
would meet her on this side; but we soon got her to know and 
be glad of this eternal truth. 

252. ''And ere long my son here [the medium] will come 
up higher, and we shall make it a happy time for him. Vast 
hosts will be standing on this side. Throngs of glad voices 
will greet him and a glorious escort, headed by bands of music, 
will accompany him to his prepared mansions." 

253. An Indian brave in large, tall form stood to view 
and said, in very broken English, somewhat thus, as the sec- 
retary was able to render it: "How! How! Heap big Indian 
come, help paleface make book. Paleface happy hunt ground 
need red man strength, and so we, many of us also in the 
spirit world, help white spirits to do work. For white man 
here and Indians do all the time smoke the great peace pipe 
together, and it is the Indian strength, magnetic forces of 
Indian spirits, that greatly help paleface spirits do this great 
work for the benefit of paleface all round the course of the 
rising and setting sun." 

254. And now comes the artist jabbering away, "Me take 
big Indian picture," and in a few moments, under the ordinary 
test conditions, makes this portrait (No. 12) of that Indian, 
who is perhaps the chief manager of furnishing a great portion 
of the elements used here in the wonderful amount of form 
make-ups that occur. 

255. But this portrait of the Indian that stood and talked 
to this circle, made by a spirit that stood before us while he 
did make the portrait, is more than another Kobert Fulton on 
a trial up the Hudson or a Yankee steamship on trial across 
the ocean. It is the great bridge over the river of death, con- 
necting the two worlds, back over which the denizens of the 
spirit world may pass to and fro at pleasure, with glad tidings 
of the eternal world from the other side. (See page 114.) 

BV — 8 



114 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 




RUNNING WATER AND THE PEACE PIPE. 



(253.) 



Seance No. 22. 

March 4, 1900. 
256. Present, nine of the circle and two visitors: Mrs. 
Lovell, of Kansas City, Mo., and Robert Barber, of Bay City, 
Mich. Two members of the circle absent and two new elements 
instead reduced the phenomena almost to minimum. Notwith- 
standing that, the controls managed to give to us much of inter- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 115 

est, and at the beginning we would have thought it wonderful. 
But any spirit vocalization is indeed wonderful. 

Dr. Reed, 

257. After saluting the circle and speaking of the change 
of persons, said to the secretary: "Your report of last seance 
is very satisfactory to us, and Mr. Faine wishes me to say to 
you that he is exceedingly well pleased with your interpolation 
as being just what he did have reference to, and we recommend 
that your report of his speech should stand as you have made 
it of record/' 

Denton, 

258. Saluting, as is his custom, further said: "This oral 
speaking of ours may seem strange to those who have not 
before experienced such; but if they place close heed to the 
matter as we shall give it, they must conclude that it is a fact.-' 

259. Spirit Lorenzo Aber said: "Mr. Secretary, 1 wish to 
thank you, my good friend, for ample and truthful report you 
have recorded of what I said at last seance; and we all are glad 
that you can so report us, but we were sorry that you should 
be so affected while we all are so joyous and exceedingly 
happy." 

Jennie Barber. 

260. A spirit clad in white, almost dazzling, whispered: 

(a) "My name is Jennie Barber. I am so glad that my 
brother Robert Barber is here, and that it is possible for me 
to speak a word in this wa}- to him. 

ib) "Mr. Secretary, please say to him, if he does not clear- 
ly understand me, that father is here. That father and I both 
have labor to do, but not like much of the labor of earth. Our 
work is always congenial to us, work for which we are fitted, 
and in the prosecution of which we are exceedingly delighted. 
While father and I are together and of near the same rank, 
nevertheless our work, our calling is different; yet we are work- 
ing together and shall continue to do so, having as beautiful a 
home as we can prepared for him, and, ere long, when it will 
be his to cross to this side, Ave shall welcome him here, and 
be among his escort that we may have prepared for him. But 
his own earth life will be the pattern of that home of his over 
here. 

261. "The work that I do over here is like this: I met an 
old lady who had just laid down her dusty sandals of earth 
and crossed to this side. She had labored on earth, toiled on 
through life's difficulties over a somewhat tempestuous sea; 
but, of course, had not had time or opportunity on earth to 



116 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

consider whether or not there is a life beyond. The poor tired 
soul needed help, and finally I was instrumental in awakening 
her to the glorious splendor of these beautiful habitations. 

262. "And I saw a little child, a beautiful little child, ap- 
proaching these ever-green shores. Such a sweet little child! 
Its beautiful little soul seemed to be made on purpose to pul- 
sate to the symphonies of richest celestial music. 

(a) "I caught that little w T aif from the hands of the 'boat- 
man pale,' and in my own arms bore the precious charge to its 
appropriate preparatory abode, and rejoiced to see it growing 
into the bright glory of the eternal spheres." 

263. Following this lady there came one in very brilliant 
white with a starry coronal, announcing her name as Agatha, 
one of Mr. Barber's guides, and said she hoped to be able at 
some time to favor us with some of her experiences. 

Thomas Paine, 

264. For the benefit of the visitors, spoke a few words, 
but with great force, saying: 

(a) "Do not think for one moment, friends, that because 
you do not hear from your spirit friends that they do not desire 
to make themselves known to you. Indeed, many times they 
do come and you do not recognize them. Conditions of your- 
selves, of the circle, of the medium, or so many spirits crowd- 
ing to be known, it spoils the opportunity of all. 

(b) "1 met many seances and made many attempts to be 
recognized, without avail. But at last there came a time when 
I was recognized. 

(c) "I hope and even think that soon there will be such 
manifestations as to call general attention to the subject; and 
to such extent and degree as to afford general investigation 
and recognition by friends of earth of spirit return, even of 
their friends and relatives gone before." 

265. Dr. Willis, of Kokomo, Indiana, who in 1891 attended 
these seances, but has since become a citizen of the spirit 
world, comes now from the spirit side, and makes his presence 
and identity known to us. 

266. Then a Mr. Willis, son of the once somewhat famous 
materializing medium of Cincinnati, Ohio, was recognized by 
some of the circle. This spirit was introduced by Charles 
Steward, also now in spirit life. 

The Miser. 

267. Wesley Aber continued his oral experiences, saying: 
(a) "I met a gentleman who served many years in the 

woods, in timbered regions, handling timber as his business. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 117 

Being away from banks of deposit, as well as from safes of 
deposit, he buried his treasures for safe-keeping, and finally 
came to this side, leaving his buried treasures. He did not 
go to church, he said, but tried to be as good as he could. 

(6) "I asked him, 'Good at what? What good ever did 
you? What poor mortal ever did you help? Nature gave you 
talent to gather up money and you spent your whole talent in 
that way. 

(c) " 'And then, to prevent doing any good, you buried the 
whole business in the earth, and now that you ought to know 
it can never serve you, still you stand guard over it and watch 
for it, for fear it may be found, dug up, and made to serve some 
poor man's starving, freezing family. 7 

(d) "And I talked to him and finally got him to go round 
with me to see some of this beautiful world, but he thought 
of his money, and right back he went. And time after time I 
have got him started, but he always gets so far and falls right 
back to his money; he will not stay with us. 

(e) "All this one cares for is his buried money, and he con- 
tinually visits and hangs around that place in spite of all our 
pleadings, so far; but I will not give up the case. I will yet 
show him that he is wasting his time, and that all his longing 
for that money but prolongs the day of his own deliverance 
from the thralldom of a wasted life on earth; and th^n he will 
soon get on the road to help himself from Nature's granaries to 
all the food his needy soul should have. 

(f) "Not only this one, but thousands reach this side so 
greedy for money that they cannot get themselves away from 
the darkening influences of selfish love of money, 

(g) "There is much in spirit life along this line, but I can 
not tarry now to tell you," and the spirit was gone. 

268. Dr. Reed then came forth and continued his written 
experiences. (Set forward in Chapter IV., at paragraph 1195.) 

Seance No. 28. 

March 8, 1900. 

269. Dr. Reed opened the seance, regretting that some of 
the circle were absent, but they on the spirit side would do all 
possible toward carrying forward the work in hand. 

Spirit Assistance to Mortals of Physical and Mental Depression. 

The spirit Professor Denton, in good make-up and with 
vocalization up to his best standard, said: 

(a) "Friends, here I am again in your midst, for which 
privilege I feel exceedingly thankful. 

(b) "I visited a large city, and there found many places 
where I felt that I could do some good; and I went right about 
the work as I found it to do. 



118 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(c) "The cases were of various forms of disease, such as 
mental depression and nervous prostration, but the patients 
did not know that I was there. They did not at the time real- 
ize that their relief was due to spirit assistance. They sup- 
posed it all due to aid of mortals. But some of them, after a 
while, began to think the matter over, and, as to the whole, con- 
cluded there must have been more than mortal aid in their 
case; and at last some of them realize that their recovery is 
due to aid of spirits. 

(d) "This is some of the work we are doing. We are busy 
all the time. Mortals do not know T how much we help them r 
but we know that some time they will realize it all. No differ- 
ence to us how skeptical they be, if they are worthy, we help 
them all we can, without regard to whether they believe this 
or that; for if we cannot reach their mentality while in the mor- 
tal, we know that some time they will learn of the whole truth 
and turn all of their experiences, whether dark or bright, to 
useful account in their own being; and also in helping others 
along. 

(e) "And now, kind friends, allow me to introduce to you 
that noble scientific soul to whom we are so much indebted for 
the assistance he gave us in the other work; and who is here 
now doing all he can to help along in this; and I know you will 
all be pleased to once more see and hear your noble friend, 
Michael Faraday." 

271. And instantly the form of Denton was gone and in 
his stead before the circle stood the form of Michael Faraday, 
saying: 

{a) "Good-evening, friends. I assure you that I am glad 
to be with you here. I am so very glad indeed. 

(b) "It is not my purpose to detain you at length now, but 
only to let you know that I have neither forsaken nor for- 
gotten you; but a little later on it may be that I shall have 
somewhat to impart to you. 

(c) "It is my chief allotment here to assort from all the 
hosts that approach from our side and present to you so much 
as seems to be proper as a basis upon which for willing and 
anxious minds of earth to erect for themselves temples of 
enduring spiritual truth." 

272. When Faraday was gone away, one who was not rec- 
ognized uttered an invocation in some unknown tongue, bat 
the circle thought the language and style much like that of 
J. M. Allen's guides in invocation. 

Bobert Fulton. 

273. A stranger followed the prayer in the unknown 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 119 

(a) 4k I do not suppose you know me. It has been quite a 
while, as you would reckon time, since I was in the earth life. 

(b) "A great many changes have taken place on your earth 
since then, and especially in my line most wonderful changes 
have been made. I am Robert Fulton, but coming to spirit life 
did not stop my work in mechanics for the good of the human 
race. 

(c) "While the great work of crafts for purposes of trans- 
portation by steam force has moved on from the old wooden 
structure with crude propelling machinery to the majestic steel 
ships of oceanic international commerce, we on this side have 
received ideas from intelligences far beyond us of recent tran- 
sition, and been able to impress the mechanics of earth. And 
so you mortals to-day behold the outward material forms of 
spiritual thoughts of the higher spheres; and so, dear friends 
of earth, though long since I left the earth, 1 am yet able to 
labor on in my congenial calling and enjoy the triumphal march 
of the waves of civilization that I helped, while on earth, to set 
in motion." 

It Is Better to Teach the Truth Than to Live a Lie. 

274. Thomas Paine (see R. V., 2308), that grandest of all 
vocalizers here, so far, in the most thrilling intonations of 
voice and pleasing eloquence, followed Fulton, saying: 

(a) "I, too, am truly glad to be here on this occasion. I 
am always glad to be able to say something for what seems to 
me to be the good of man. I am not here to so speak as to 
harass the feelings of people, nor to give the mere opinions of 
Thomas Paine, but to try to tell to you of the things which,, 
from my personal experience, I know to be true. For T know 
that it is better for people to know or even to believe what- 
is actual truth than to believe, teach, practice, and live a lie. 

That Foolish Question. 

(b) "'But suppose it is true, what good will it do?' say 
they. What a foolishly absurd question! 

(c) "Friends, did you ever stop and think, just one little 
moment, how shallow the mind that can be brazen enough to 
ask such a question? All that can be done in such case for the 
present is to leave the fool alone in his folly. 

This the Most Independent Manner of Return and Speech. 

275. (a) "I must say to you, friends, that it is not often 
that I am blest with the glorious privilege that I have here 
with you to manifest. 



120 BEYOND TEE VAIL. 

(b) "Elsewhere I may give some occult manifestation, and 
even give out some thought as of an invisible presence; but I 
prefer to speak where and when I can both be seen and heard. 

Spirits May Always Increase in Knowledge. 

276. (a) "Your world may seemingly have grown old, but 
spirits grow old only in knowledge. We continually grow more 
and more in knowledge. 1 am incessantly adding more and 
more to my store of knowledge. 

(b) "There are those passing to this side who are ignorant 
— as ignorant as I was. 

(c) "While I did not have any experience of spirit return 
before passing to this side, at the same time I saw that it was 
not to be presumed impossible. Yet I hardly dared to think it 
true. 

Paine* s First Great Fact. 

277. "But when I reached this side, I was most happily 
disappointed, and right joyfully glad to know of this eternal 
truth, which, of course, was the first great fact to meet my 
awakened soul over here. 

Paine 9 s Boohs Foreshadowed Possible Spirit Return. 

278. "My books foreshadowed that in some way conscious 
existence might be continuous and spirit return possible in 
some sort of vague occult manner. Where I had strong con- 
victions of truth or error, I tried to give forcible expression 
to such convictions. I was honest, I was sincere, and had taken 
every possible pains to find out the truth, regardless of all 
other considerations. 

(a) "And in my book, 'Age of Reason,' I gave my best and 
honest thought of the truth as I had found by diligent research 
the truth to be, and I now find that the greater portion of that 
book sets out truth. Many people, however, do not believe 
that there is sufficient statement of truth in my books to war- 
rant even a perusal of them. 

Why Is Thomas Paine Not in Hell? 

279. (a) "Friends, why did I not go to hell and stay 
there? Why does not the voice that has Thomas Paine in hell 
keep him there? If their dogmas be true, their prayer would 
not only consign me to hell, but keep me there eternally. 

(b) "One reason that Thomas Paine is not in hell, but is 
running about loose, is that there is no such hell as they tell 
you about. My hell was no hell made by a vindictive God for 
the endless torment of His own children,' but my hell was such 
as mortals make for themselves. 



BEY OX D THE TAIL. 121 

(c) "Another reason is, I injured no one. I tried at all 
times to do good and to do that which I thought would result 
in the highest good to man. 

(d) "Yet I was persecuted in my day as much as, or even 
more than you are here in this hamlet; and I am still perse- 
cuted, but what care I? 

(e) "I can stand before them and prove to them by facts 
and logic which they cannot overcome that I am standing in 
the light of eternal truth. And more, that this philosophy of 
Spiritualism is living truth; it has come to stay, and not all 
the legions of fast-decaying false religious systems can shake 
its foundations nor tear down the all-glorious superstructure." 

Illustration No. 13. 

280. The artist this evening gives to us the portrait of 
Lorenzo Aber, the medium's father, and the circle regard it as 
splendid work indeed. 

First Visit to a Seance. 

281. While the artist was making the portrait of Lorenzo, 
there appeared one who was strange to us. He did not seem 
to know where he was. He said, "This is curious. What is 
this? Is this a mine? I don't know how I got here. Ain't this 
a mine?" 

Miner and Circle in Dialogue* 

282. Circle: "No, sir. This is a house, but who are you?" 
Spirit: "I don't know" 

Circle: "What is your name?" 

Spirit: "I don't know." 

Circle: "Did you get blown up in a mine?" 

Spirit: "I guess so. Look here. See? Eight arm gone. 
Where am I at now?" 

Circle: "You are in Kansas. Where did you come from?" 

Spirit: "I don't know as I came at all. I just seemed to 
drop right down here like falling into a mine." 

Circle: "Where were you last, as you remember?" 

Spirit: "In a mine in Pennsylvania." 

Circle: "And that exploded?" 

Spirit: "It seems it did. But where am I now? And how 
came I here?" 

Circle: "This is where spirits meet mortals — called a 
seance. Are you not a spirit?" 

Spirit: "I am just like I always was in a mine, only this 
arm is gone. This is a dark mine. I don't know about it. 
Awful strange." 



122 BEYOND TEE TAIL. 

Circle: "Are you not. in the spirit world?" 

Spirit; "I 'in right here in this dark mine." 

Circle: "Well, you hear us talk. You are now a spirit. 
This is a place where spirits are sometimes brought by other 
spirits for the purpose of awakening the unfortunate ones to 
realize that they are spirits in the spirit world. That is, that 
they have died, and yet live, and may soon be in better condi 
tions than before death. Some of your best friends in the 
spirit world have brought you here to help you to get light, 
and they will open your eyes so that you soon will begin to 
see and meet and know your friends that you thought to be 
dead," 

Spirit: "Who is this that I hear talking?" 

Circle: "We are persons who have not yet died. We meet 
here to talk with people who have died, and some who died sud- 
denly are brought to us for help to get light." 

Spirit: "I have got some sense, I believe. Is that a light 
burning over there?" 

Circle: "Yes, sir. This is night-time and we burn that 
candle for our light, so as to see each other and to see spirits. 
We see you as plainly as we see one another." 

Spirit: "Jack, Jack, oh, Jack! Where is Jack?" 

Circle: "What Jack?" 

Spirit: "Just Jack. I don't see Jack." 

Circle: "What was his name besides Jack?" 

Spirit: "I don't know. Just Jack." 

Circle: "Was 'he in the mine with you?" 

Spirit: "Yes. We always called him Jack. I don't see 
him here." 

Circle: "l~>o you see that thing on the wall? ^Listen!" 

Spirit (listens a moment): "I hear it ticking. That 's a 
clock, ain't it? Well, well! I 've got a clean white shirt on for 
the first time in many years. Didn't need 'em down in mines. 
I begin to see, don't I? Now I begin to see you. I hear your 
voices. I hear others. Someone calls me — I must go. The 
ground is slipping under me. I 'm going down — I 'm going." 

And the spirit was going down, steadily down, as though 
in great fear to go, dissolving away at feet first, head with 
body descending as the dissolution went on, giving the appear- 
ance as though going down through the floor, but there was 
no opening in either the carpet or floor; when the chin reached 
the floor, the head vanished as the light of a lamp when blown 
out. (291.) 

283. And instantly that the miner was gone down, an- 
other form began to rise at the spot on the carpet where the 
miner went down. This form at first appeared as a little child, 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 123 

but seemed to grow and till out until as a man of adult stat- 
ure; then in good oral speech it said: 

{a) ,k Friends, listen to me now. I came to the spirit world 
when a little child. I was cared for here the same as though 
on earth, and perhaps very much better. I grew right on to 
manhood here, the same as I would have done there. 

. (b) "In learning I have very much excelled many that re- 
mained on earth and in the schools there, and then came to 
this side. 

(c) "I have been active in learning — more so than some 
who came at the time and age I did; and I think I can, some 
time, give more of my experience that may be of interest to 
some of your world." 

And this spirit vanished, and the artist had his work done. 

284. And Daniel O'Brien seized the trumpet and through 
it, as usual, in very loud and almost deafening tones, saluted 
the circle, both in general and individually; and while the Irish 
spirit was standing before the circle at repartee with different 
members of the circle, he said something that gave the trance 
control Sam an opportunity to twit the Irishman, in broken 
German-English, the Irishman outside the cabinet and the 
Dutchman on the inside, engaged at rivalry in repartee, vying in 
witticisms which grow in rapidity and earnestness, Irish and 
German, until both blaze away at once at each other, and sim- 
ultaneously, each trying to talk the other down, and the whole 
circle hilarious with merriment at the oddity of the affair. 
Finally the Irishman, as though he would have a personal tus 
sle with Sam, dropped the trumpet and hastily went into the 
cabinet, and Sam called out : "Say, Mr. Secretary, if my medium 
schange his voice so rapidly, but how he spoke Irish and Ger- 
man both at once? Hugh? Vail, I go now. Good-nocht." 

Seance No. 2 % 

March 11, 1900. 

285. Robert Barber again present as a visitor. A spirit 
whom we did not know announced his name, Chester Sanford, 
of Austin, Texas, and said: "If mother were here, she would 
know me. And I would only be too glad to have her here. She 
is yet in earth life." 

Denton, 

286. "1 am glad to meet you here to-night. But I am 
sorry that our friend Mr. Barber must leave us. I say to him: 
We thank you, kind sir, for your appreciation of our work and 
for your visit with us, and hope, sir, that you may be able to 
visit us again soon. Your friends have been anxious to say a 
word to you, though they could not all do so. Your presence 



124 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

here has done them good and they have learned the way, so 
that even when you are away, they can return here. I realize 
your unfortunate conditions, how you have been thrown into 
uncongenial environments and surroundings, and from a spirit- 
ual standpoint we thank you and we hope you can soon be with 
us again." 

287. Dr. Reed took the box of sketch paper over to the 
secretary, gave the key to the secretary, and told him to put the 
key in his pocket and keep it, and then had the secretary see 
that the box was locked. And the secretary and Mr. Pratt did 
so examine and find the box lid locked down fast, and returned 
the box to Dr. Reed, the secretary retaining the key. 

Robert G. Ingersoll. 

288. And now one recognized as Colonel Ingersoll spoke 
in rather feeble tones, as though his vocal apparatus were not 
well made up, or else some hindering prevented good oral 
speech; but nevertheless the spirit did talk for a little time, 
saying: 

(a) "I have been with you before. I am happy to see you 
so interested in this cause for the enlightenment of those of 
earth who wish to learn. 

(&) "It has been said of me that I was a bad man, that the 
influence of my work and writings was bad, tending toward 
degradation, and that neither myself nor my books should be 
permitted to exist on the earth. 

(c) "Now, friends, if you examine my books, you will find 
nothing in them only what is elevating. Nor in my lectures 
would you find anything but a constant effort to entighten the 
people. 

(d) "It is also held that because I would not say I was a 
Spiritualist I was in opposition to it. Not so, friends. 

(e) "I felt that before any great reform could come to the 
people, the galling chains of religious superstition should be 
broken, and that was my work; and that if I should freely tarn 
to Spiritualism before the way was cleared, the people would 
not hear me. 

if) "While 1 hoped and even believed that future life was 
being proven to be a fact, yet I now feel that I rightly sensed 
what work I should do on earth; and I feel rewarded that to 
a good degree my efforts were efficacious, and that I set for- 
ward the work and so firmly planted it that it will work its 
own way along. 

From Agnosticism to Knowledge. 

289. (a) "Now, friends, I did not disbelieve Spiritualism, 
but I had not found the proof to my mind of the fact of future 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 125 

life. Now, however, I know that though past the ordeal of 
death, I still live and have iny being in perfect continuance of 
conscious identity, and I can now bring the proof, which I 
could not before transition, and I have learned what I could 
not possibly have learned while in the body. 

(b) "Friends, when your worn-out bodies be resting be- 
neath the sod, it will be pleasant to know that none can 
truthfully say otherwise than 'That is the grave of one who 
never harmed anybody while living,' and also to know and feel 
that your life-work has been for the good of all; and to hear 
your friends say over here, as they meet you with happy greet- 
ing, 'My soul feels glad that you, my friend, did unselfishly help 
me along.' " 

Jennie Barber's Portrait. 

290. Then the artist, standing at his place, examined the 
box of material, found the box locked and the key gone. "No 
key, no makee picture; no getee box open." 

Circle: "Mr. Nixon has the key." 
Artist: "Say, Mr. Writee Man, getee me key." 
Secretary: "The doctor told me to keep the key in my 
pocket." 

Artist: "Dr. Keed, he think he smart. Have a charge 
about here. Say, Doctor, come rightee outee here opee boxee. 
No makee picture. Doctor, opee boxee for me." 

Doctor comes out of cabinet, passes right hand over box- 
lid. Circle hear the lock-bolt slip, and Keed raises lid and turns 
box over to the artist and retires. The artist takes a sheet of 
the paper from the box and exhibits it to all the circle that 
they may all be satisfied that the paper is entirely clean of any 
trace of a picture. Then went to work on a picture and at once 
the outline began to show, the artist jabbering in apparent 
delight to witness the picture coming out: 

291. And here the anonymous miner stood in front of the 
cabinet, and was at once recognized by the circle as the miner 
that reported at the last seance. (282.) 

He said: "I can see better — not so dark as the other 
evening." 

Circle: "How is that hand?" 

Spirit: "Let me see (examines hand); getting better. Com- 
ing on again. Look here — see? See it growing on?" 

Some of the circle: "Why, yes, sir, it is." 

Spirit: "Nearly all right now. I haven't found Jack yet." 

Circle: "Well, you will find him all right by and by." 

Spirit: "I don't know. I don't know. I can't hear from 
him yet. Mines are dark places." 

Circle: "Was it a coal mine?" 



]26 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Spirit: "Don't ask too many questions. I don't know 
much. I am beginning to know something. Listen. They came 
to me and said they had come after me. They said they would 
pass me in and they let me drop right down in here." 

Circle: "Did you belong to some church or society?" 

Spirit: "I did not belong to anything. Say, how shall I 
get in somewhere else if I want to?" 

Circle: "Those fellows in the cabinet — the controls — will 
tell you." 

Spirit goes to cabinet and asks: "Say, sirs, will you please 
instruct me how I can find other meetings like this one, and 
get in?" 

Some whispering in the cabinet; then the spirit faces the 
circle and says: "He told me they would let me know later on 
how to find others," and bade us good-by and vanished. (321.) 

292. Then we beheld the artist step to the arena table 
and make passes over the paper he had left, on the arena table 
when the miner came out, and in a few moments presented the 
full life-size bust portrait in best crayon work of a somewhat 
handsome young woman form, and the spirits informed Mr. 
Barber that the portrait was of his sister, Jennie Barber, who 
is now of adult size, but passed to spirit life when a small child. 

293. Then a woman form in white raiment whispered: 
"My name is Jemie Watkins. I was murdered. My passage 
into spirit life, however, was very bright. My parents are Spir- 
itualists, and that has been a great help to me to get into 
work that leads me into more and more light continually." 

Special Seance. 

March 13, 1900. 

294. Only five of the regular circle present, but there was a 
wonderful display of materializations — some forty forms, men, 
women, and children — and the greater number of them spoke 
to us their names as known when in the physical. 

295. Henry Clay was followed by Ethan Allen, of Ticon- 
deroga fame; and one noticeable peculiarity here is that Mr. 
Pratt was expressing a great desire to have Gladstone come 
out to our view, and was persistent that Gladstone put in an 
appearance; but instead Ethan Allen stood forth, and in first- 
class vocalization addressed us at much length, saying: 

296. "I am Ethan Allen, of Ticonderoga, and I want to 
say to you that you have a great country here, and that I am 
glad to be privileged to speak with you for a moment. I great- 
ly prefer to talk in this independent manner. I am not partial 
to the use of another organism for the purpose of communicat- 
ing my thoughts to people of earth. Hence I am delighted with 
this especial opportunity. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 1^7 

297. "It seems to me that you are doing a great work 
here. I am somewhat acquainted with the book you have al- 
ready placed before the world, and I have followed it to some 
extent, as it has gone out among the people, and I see that it 
is being regarded by people of thought as a wonderful book. 

(a) "The physician who examines it is astonished at its 
scientific penetration into materia medica. 

(b) "The scientist sees in it that clear elucidation of 
obscure scientific problems that he never before met. 

(c) "The attorney at the bar arid the judge on the bench 
are amazed at its logic and regard it a great acquisition to 
general jurisprudence; and 

(d) "The student of psychic science finds it the most com- 
prehensive and wonderful exemplification of his field of re- 
search ever before published to the world. 

(e) "And it seems to me that the work you have in hand, 
when completed, will at least equal, and perhaps greatly sur- 
pass, the one already out. 

(/) "Friends, it may be possible that by your kindness and 
the permission of the guides who control here I shall be able 
to give you some of my experience on this side of life. 

(g) "My time for this interview is expired, and with thanks 
and good wishes toward you and the control, I bid you good- 
night." 

298. Then followed, standing before us in quick succes- 
sion, each announcing his name, these materializations, to-wit: 
Yerrna, Garfield, a Frenchman, J. L. Greenup, Denton, Chester 
A. Arthur, Reed, Stephen A. Douglas, Shakespeare, Humboldt, 
John Rose, and Fletcher Pratt. 

Seance No. 25. 

March 15, 1900. - 
Admonition to Mrs. House. 

299. (a) Dr. Reed, as usual, opened the seance, this time 
by engaging in conversation with Mrs. House, who is getting 
to be very old to be out at seances in inclement weather, and 
who suffers so much of gastric trouble as to sometimes feel 
tired of this life and a desire to be free from the old body; but 
the spirit told her not to be in a hurry to go, but to brace up 
and resolve to tarry, at least until this present work be com- 
pleted, and until her whole allotted time of earth should be 
fulfilled; and her spirit sister, Mrs. Dayton, also greeted her, 
saying: 

(b) "We do not like to have you worrying so over your 
life. We are not ready for you yet. You do not need to worry 
and be longing to go. When your time is fully up on earth, we 



128 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

shall then be ready to meet and receive you, through the 'rent 
vail,' unto ourselves." 

Galileo. (Portrait at 312.) 

300. A form, quite prominent and brilliant in make-up, 
stood before the circle, saying: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. You may not know me. I 
am Galileo, nevertheless, still moving around; and, after many, 
many years of your time, I am back to the great round earth 
of my youth. 

(b) "I am not being persecuted, however, as when I first 
visited your world. Many people thought and yet think it 
strange that I should recant. I felt then and feel now that I 
did the best for me. I felt that whatever I might say would 
do but little toward stopping the world or the universe of 
worlds. And I felt also that my assassination would but little 
affect the grand march of Nature. 

(c) "But my contemporary, Giordano Bruno, would not 
recant. Instead, he pushed his ideas aggressively, and it may 
have been better for general truth in his case. 

(d) "I am permitted only a moment for this interview, 
and ,1 may call again with some of my very extended experi- 
ences since I did cross to this side." 

Galileo — Historical. 

(e) "An Italian, born in 1564, died in 1642, at the age of 
seventy-eight. He was best known as the discoverer of the 
earth's motions. He was an eminent philosopher and mathe- 
matician as well. His mind was an eminently practical one. 
He concerned himself, above all, with what fell within the 
range of exact inquiry, and left to others the larger but less 
fruitful speculations which can never be brought to the direct 
test of experiment. Thus, while far-reaching but hasty gen- 
eralizations have had their day and been forgotten, his work 
has proved permanent because he made sure of his foundations. 
His keen intuition of truth, his vigor and yet sobriety of argu- 
ment, his fertility of illustration and acuteness of sarcasm, 
made him irresistible to his antagonists, and the evanescent 
triumphs of successful controversy have been succeeded by the 
lasting applause of posterity." (Enc. Brit.) 

Ethan Allen 

301. Stood to our sight and hearing, and in very excel- 
lent oral delivery said: 

(a) "I am your friend, Ethan Allen. I am very greatly 
pleased to be in your presence and recognition again. 

(b) "This communion is somewhat new to me, but I am 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 129 

almost inexpressibly glad to say a few words to you at this 
time. 

(c) "The other evening was my first experience at this 
mode of interview with those yet in the physical body. 

(d) "I have, however, visited much in spirit life; and in 
addition to meeting my old associates and acquaintances of 
^earth, I have seen many that I did not meet while on earth, 
some of whom lived on earth — ages of ages, since, have gone by. 

Whom He Met and His Relative Condition. 

302. "I met some whose existence is questioned, but I 
met them and know that they do in reality exist. I have met 
some whom you know, and among them the 'father of your 
country/ even 

{a) "George Washington, and also met him here the other 
evening. 

(b) "I have met Giordano Bruno; I have met Galileo; I 
have met some of the Atlanteans, and I have met Confucius, 
that sage of the Chinese people, and I have met Plato, and Aris- 
totle, and Xenophon, and hosts of the olden-time sages, philos- 
ophers, and scientists. 

(c) "I find I am. in about as good condition as any whom 
I have met, for most of them had their individual special call- 
ing. If it was of science, they are scientific still. 

302J. (e) "But I am at work for the human race. I feel 
when I am at work for man that it is all right. Scientists get 
so absorbed in their work that they don't come back nor go 
-anywhere outside their scientific field. 

(/) "I have traveled and learned much in every accessible 
direction, and in my travels have met those who came up from 
the field of battle. 

(//) "Generals I have met who gave up their lives for their 
country and rode to earthly glory over the dead bodies of those 
as good as themselves. And a great many of them think that 
if permitted to relive their lives on earth, they would live very 
differently. 

(li) "As for myself, if I had my earth life to live again, I 
would do about as I did at the first living. They tried to play 
schemes on me, but I guess I successfully schemed them." 

303. Denton, speaking of elements introduced to obtain 
variety, said: 

(a) "Friends, I am exceedingly delighted with our prog- 
ress this evening, and how do you all like the introductions we 
have recently made to you here?" 

(b) Circle: "We are also much delighted with vour selec- 
tions." 

(c) Spirit: "We have an abundance to select from and 

BY — 9 



130 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

only present to you some of whom we deem most appropriate 
for the work in hand. 

(d) "Mr. Secretary, I see that Mr. Pratt has invited a gen- 
tleman who is at or near Kansas City to visit here. While 
we wish and are anxious to have persons from abroad visit 
here who would be of benefit in promulgating the work, yet it 
is of little use to have one attend whose magnetism will not 
harmoniously blend with ours. 

(e) "The gentleman who visited here recently was very 
congenial to us and we could go right on with the work. But 
some are so antagonistic that their aura and ours will not 
blend, and because we cannot, under such conditions, come 
right out as a strong man, in broad daylight, and squall out at 
top of human speech and say to them, 'How are you, Jack Rob- 
inson?' they set the whole business down as fraud. We have 
to work as the material Avill allow. The gentleman, however, 
whom Mr. Pratt invites may prove to be just the element all 
round that we need. 

The Indolent, Stubborn Disposition. 

304. "I met one over here who is of that stubborn, egotis- 
tical character, and I said to him: 'I am sorry that you are so 
stubborn, but if you will go with me, I will show you some 
things of this country that will be of great benefit to you.' He 
said: 'I am all right as I am. I don't want to know of any- 
thing better.' I said: 'You are siting around waiting for some- 
one to come along from whom you hope to learn without effort 
on your part, but I assure you that until you desire to know, 
and get up and look about a little for yourself, you will never 
attain to the highest position on this side of life. I am here to 
help you along, but you refuse my proffered help. I cannot 
tarry. There are plenty who are but too glad to have assist- 
ance to learn all that is possible for them to know to their ben- 
efit, and I must pass on to such as they.' 

(a) "He thanked me very much, but guessed he could work 
it all out for himself, and he needed none of my help. 

(b) "I said: 'All right, sir. I pass on, hoping you may havp 
abundance of success.' 

(c) "As I moved on, nearing a rivulet, and was about to 
cross, I looked back, and behold, my man was closely following 
me. And he called to me to know how far he would have to 
travel to find out something he had not learned that would be 
of benefit to him. 

(d) "I said: 'It 's owing to how you count the way, and 
what you know. You may think you are in heaven as a place 
of eternal do-nothing, but I can assure yon that you are not 
at all in that heaA r en.' 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 131 

"He asked, 'Where, then, am I at?' 

(e) "I told him: 'Sir, you are in the spirit world, which is 
an exact counterpart of the world you have just left. You can 
not travel any way until you realize this all-important fact. 
You must learn that you advance here very much as you would 
on earth. * 

304J. "We are not hampered here as on earth in our mode 
of travel, as you can easily see. We can go from place to place 
in the twinkling of an eye. Hence, when we desire to realize 
a local experience, we fix our thought on the locality strongly, 
and we are there, apparently without intervention of duration, 
at least unless the distance to traverse be great." 

John Buskin, 

805. The scientist, stood to view and announced his name 
and retired, and 

Thomas Paine 

306. Fut in an appearance, saying: "I am here again. I 
have not much to say at this time. I have given way to others. 
I hope to be with you again, however, before long. I must go 
now. Good-night." 



•& j 



Queen Anne and Queen Elizabeth, 

307. Each in exceeding white, appeared, announcing the 
name, and vanished. 

On Heaven and Hell. 

308. Dr. Reed continues his written narrative, set for- 
ward in Part II. 

Seance No. .26. 

March 18, 1900. 

309. Because of sickness and inclement weather, only Mr. 
Pratt and wife, C. V. N. House, the secretary, and Maggie Ev- 
ans were present. 

310. Reed opened the seance, saying: "Good-evening, 
friends. While I am glad to be here, I feel sorrowful that some 
are away because of sickness; that is not their fault. We will 
do the best we can under the conditions." 

311. Denton said: 

(a) "I am exceedingly glad to be present with you again. 

(b) "I would caution you that you should not be too will- 
ing to admit to these seances persons who are not acquainted 
with this kind of work. A Spiritualist may not be any better 
adapted to affiliation with us and with this work than the most 
stubborn skeptic. If such be admitted, however, we can only 



132 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

do the best the conditions will allow; but certain it is that it 
would be better for you, better for us, and better for them that 
they first attend upon some other phases and some other 
seances I efore being admitted to these intellectual seances. 
Then we < an better find whether or not it would be prudent to 
admit ttem at all here. 

(V) -The gentleman you have invited is a deep thinker, is 
a long-time Spiritualist, has investigated to a great extent al- 
most all phases of psychic science, is well up on materializa- 
tion, has perhaps even heard made-up forms speak names and 
perhaps now and then a few words, but he has never been ac- 
quainted with and assimilated to this phase of vocalization, 
psychic writing, and portraiture, and may possibly not by 
nature be assimilated to us in this work, at least not without 
meeting us first in some other of our work. 

(d) "Then, again, he may be the very element we need. 
But even then we can assimilate his magnetism ro ours better 
in those seances for that purpose. Nevertheless I don't wish 
to dictate." 

Galileo. 

(Introduced at 300; Paine's Eulogy at 313.) 

312. Now comes the artist to the arena table, opens the 
box of sketch paper, takes out of the box a sheet of the paper, 
exhibits the same to the circle, that all may see and be satisfied 
that the paper is blank. The circle express entire satisfaction 
of being able to see that the paper is entirely clean of any por- 
trait or part thereof. The artist, jabbering all the while, takes 
his paper back to the arena table, then again so holds the paper 
to view that the circle can see that the paper is yet entirely 
white and clean. Now, laying the paper flat upon the table, the 
artist moves both hands over the paper, saying: "Now comee 
onee — see? Comee onee; hard places in ee crayon scratchee. 
Mr. Writee Manee, please loanee me a sharp knife." 

Secretary: "I have none." 

Mr. House: "Here is one." (Handing a knife to the spirit.) 

Spirit takes knife, saying: "Hardee placee spoilee eye; 
scrapee off, makee over. Now ee allee yightee. (Hands knife 
back.) Thankee, sir. (Hands the finished portrait to the sec- 
retary.) Goodee picture; had I bettee writee namee onee?" 

Secretary: "Yes, sir, if you please." 

Spirit writes name on lower right-hand corner, to-wit, 
"Galileo," and hands the portrait back to the secretary, and 
instantly the spirit artist is gone, and right up out of the car- 
pet, apparently, arose 



BEYOND THE VAIL 



133 




GALILEO. 

Thomas Paine, 

313. Saving, in his most happy expression of speech: 
(a) "Friends, I am with you again. The artist has taken 
this opportunity to make and present to you a most elegant 
picture of one who made history on your earth many years ago. 
One who diligently sought, found, and demonstrated, for the 
benefit of the human rare, many scientific facts which greatly 



134 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

modified human thought and action in almost every field of 
thought and action. 

(b) ."The value of the efforts of this great mind to human- 
ity is almost or quite inestimable, and the great soul goes 
right on in his work over here. And I can assure you, my 
friends, that this is a good likeness of that wonderful Galileo 
as he is now in the spirit world." 

Joan of Arc. 

314. A materialization, in the similitude of a woman in 
garments of clearest white, stood forth to the view of the 
whole circle, and in a clear whisper said: "My name is Joan 
of Arc." 

315. "When on earth I did try to make better conditions 
for the common people, but in doing what I thought right T 
ran antagonistically to what other people thought right to 
such an extent that I had many persecutors who worked them- 
selves up to an insane frenzy and sought in almost every way 
to persecute me; and at last they seized me and dragged me 
through the streets to my death. 

316. "While they thought they were torturing me, they 
were not. I was surrounded by hosts of glorious spirits, who 
held my spirit in serene happiness. As the mad yells of my 
would-be tormentors went out on the air to the great delight 
of my enemies, there stood to my vision, but unknown to those 
ruffians, a great army of immortals speaking peace to me, re- 
lieving me of all pain and fear and suffering of every kind, and, 
gathering me into their arms, they bore me away from the old 
body and escorted me into the most delightful scenes and con- 
ditions of supreme enjoyment that I had ever known. 

317. "But you may say: 'Why did not those mighty spir- 
its save the body alive — snatch it away from my persecutors?' 

(a) "I would answer: They had not the necessary condi- 
tions at their command to handle the physical body against the 
ruffians, while they did have spiritual power over my spirit, or 
rather over me as a spirit, or, perhaps better still, over me, the 
spirit. 

(b) "I would further answer: My work of earth was done. 
My time to go had come. I had grown ripe on this earth as a 
tree of life and ready to drop off of it out into more spiritual 
spheres and more glorious conditions for which my work of 
earth had prepared me. 

The Work of Philanthropy Continued in Spirit. 

318. (a) "The work which I began on earth was destined 
to be continued in the spirit world, that others and I might 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 135 

rise to higher spheres in the radiant, all-absorbing morning 
land. 

(&) "Soon my persecutors, one by one, closed the mortal 
to enter the homes in spirit life that they had made for 
themselves. 

(c) "And, as I saw them approaching their necessarily un- 
inviting abodes on this side of life, the very yearnings of my 
nature went out to them in their darkness. And I approached 
them with such garlands of this beautiful country as would in- 
vite their attention to seek that clime or condition where there 
is light enough for such garlands to grow. And I was so glad 
to help the poor souls out of darkness into light. 

Caring for the Children. 

319. (a) "And now the little ones — so many of them come 
over here. I am at last fitted to the pleasing task of caring 
for them. Oh, the tender, pure little innocents! What glori- 
ous heaven it is to me now to care for them! It seems no 
higher, brighter conditions could be desired even in the high- 
est spheres than the task of unfolding to these innocents the 
grand lessons of eternity as they individually reach the con- 
dition to know them. 

(b) "I may be permitted to give you more of my long-time 
experience in these higher realms of light. And now for the 
present, good-by." 

320. Following the Maid of Orleans came one, also in pure 
white, and whispered, "My name is Alice Gary. I hope to 
speak with you at some length before this work is done." 

321. The anonymous miner (291) came in for the third time 
and said: 

(a) "I am getting along first rate now. I am getting glad 
to come. I am getting more sense. I find this a rather nice 
place to come to, if you understand it, and I am beginning to 
understand and appreciate it. I can now come of my own 
account. They don't have to bring me in and drop me down 
any more. I have not found Jack yet. I have been hunting for 
myself to find out where I am at, and, after that, will try to 
find my partner Jack. 

(&) "They tell me I can get real happy if I keep right on 
stirring about. 

(c) "Well, friends, I pity those fellows who are bad and 
get hung, and all those who get over here quick, who are forced 
out of their bodies in any way. Oh, I pity some of them!" 

322. A spirit stood forth and said: "I am Parish, the 
man that murdered his partner in Dallas, Texas. 

(a) "When I got on this side, I found I had made a dark 



136 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

home for myself. And after awhile I found that the only way 
of redemption from the dark to brighter conditions was that 
I must seek the man I had slain and importune his forgiveness 
of me. 

(b) "By and by I found him and got him to recognize me, 
but it was a long time before- he could in his own soul recog- 
nize me as a brother. But at last he did so, and now we both, 
though slowly, yet steadily, are growing into stronger light 
and better conditions.-' 

(c) We learn that this man Parish hired an old negro 
slave to slay one Langdon, who did so with a piece of gas-pipe, 
and that Parish suicided in prison. 

Wesley Aier, 

328. In materialized form, again speaks of some of his re- 
cent experiences, saying: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. It has been some time since 
I was here. I have been among those that were hanged. 

(I) "Many of them professed repentance and prayed in 
their cells, and on the scaffold, and verily expected that the 
moment the drop fell they w T ould wake up in heaven among the 
blood-washed and white-robed throng. 

(c) "But, oh, how disappointed were they to find it so very, 
very different! 

(d) "I want the reader to ponder the conditions of such, 
as are elsewhere set out in these records, and contemplate the 
reality, and the 'great gulf fixed' between those poor souls and 
the conditions of light. 

(e) "And I tell you, friends, it is generally a long time 
before this kind are permitted to visit a place like this. 

(/) "While some of these people are content, others are 
not. 

(g) "Some, however, are ignorant, yet for a time in dark- 
ness. While it generally takes a long time before the guilty 
are rescued, the innocent frequently are released from their 
darkened conditions in a \ery brief period of time. 

324. "You may ask, 'How is it that the innocent or any 
of them are passed into dark surroundings?' 

(a) "Those innocent ones who were ignorant did not know 
of any chance for brighter conditions; but when informed had 
only to seek to find out and be delivered. Their conditions 
were also due to their being in the company of the bad — or, 
rather, undeveloped ones. 

(b) "I asked one of the innocent ones, W^hy are you here?' 
He said: 'I was proven guilty on the trial. I had no recourse 
— there was no alternative for me. I was among the roughs, 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 137 

belonged with them, though I was not a bad man, but rather 
a good person by nature. I found my old associates oyer here 
and did not know of any other chance for me. 

(c) " 'By and by the actual murderer came to die, and on 
his nearing to death he confessed and revealed the whole plot 
against me, and then the people realized that they had hung 
an innocent man.' " 

Brann the Iconoclast. 

325. Now comes a form of a man, and, after standing a 
moment in silence, he begins talking very rapidly, cutting his 
words short and quick, but very clear and distinct, saying, "My 
name is Brann." 

Circle: "The iconoclast?" 

Spirit: "Yes. I am that Brann. I met many who tried 
to do me up. At last I was killed, but I also killed my slayer. 

326. "The great trouble with me was I liked whisky and 
convivial society. Whisky fired my passions beyond my con- 
trol. It also fired my intellect so that when I had two thimbles 
of whisky on I could sling ink to beat the world. Ain't that 
so? Mr. Secretary, I believe, sir?" 

Secretary: "Anyway, there were times when you were a 
ready writer." 

Spirit: "Yes, sir. I had a little room to which I would 
retire and begin writing, and when done, it was finished. I 
was a medium for spirits of all kinds, don't you see? I was 
fond of literature. I have noticed your book and rather like it. 
That book, 'Rending the Vail,' has grand ideas, and hits those 
money fellows terribly hard blows, and they need many, many 
such, and even harder knocks, if possible." 

The Open Road. 

327. When Brann had gone, that Irishman, Daniel 
O'Brien, seized the trumpet, and through it, in rather deafen- 
ing tones, yelled: 

(a) "Good-evening, frinds. Oi suppose yese thought I was 
gone to not return, but here Oi am, now. Say, that felly Brann 
is a rattler and ye '11 hardly forgit that. He 's loike Oi am. He 
thinks this is a great thing, and shure it is a great, grand thing. 
Oi wish all could realize as Oi do this 'open road' between the 
two worlds. Oi must go now. Good-night." And the spirit 
vanished. 

Seance No. 27. 

March 22, 1900. 

328. Reed did much vocalizing in good oral style, but 
mostly on matters concerning personalities; and while writing 



138 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

his fifth article as touching what is hell and what is heaven, 
he engaged in continual converse with various members of the 
circle about a variety of subjects of everyday life, as different 
from the written matter as possible to have made it. The 
reader will find this waiting at paragraph 1206. 

Effect of Wrong Penal Laws. — Preventive Statutes Should be Disci- 
plinary, Not Vindictive. 

329. Wesley on this occasion rather led in oratory, saying: 

(a) "I am glad to be here again. Now, friends, do you 
think the time will ever come when people will quit sending 
eriminals to the spirit world? Such come over here with their 
earth propensities active, and their passions excited, and often 
no thought but of some revenge and consequent desire to, if 
possible, work mischief yet among those of earth whom they 
find to be approachable by means of sensitives. And we have 
great trouble in keeping them back and preventing the torment 
they wish to inflict upon some person or persons until we can 
have them see the better way. And sometimes we are not able 
to intervene and intercept them until they have done great 
mischief to unsuspecting mortals who are sensitives, and many 
times the sensitives are such unawares, and other times they 
know they are sensitives, but do not know the great extent of 
the unseen influences over them, nor what to do to avert mis- 
chievous influences. 

(b) "Many of these executed criminals we find in very dark 
conditions. I could not better illustrate to you some features 
of these conditions than to present to your minds the earthly 
prison-house with its cells. 

(c) "The philanthropist visits your jails and other prisons, 
himself being in the light of freedom, but the criminal or the 
innocent man or wrongly adjudged criminal is in chains or con- 
fined behind bars he cannot pass, or sentinels he dare not pass. 

(d) "This philanthropist finds some innocent, and by per- 
sistence causes release; and finds others who may be placed iu 
conditions of amelioration, and finally so far reformed as to 
procure pardon and release from confinement. 

(e) "So it is over here; to protect your people of earth 
from those of low conditions in spirit life, and to liberate them 
from such conditions, makes a twofold burden on us over here. 
Spiritualism alone will teach people of your world that that 
world, and not Ms, is the rightful place to retain and elevate 
the criminal so his influence will not reflect back to earth from 
this side to the detriment of mortals. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 139 

Foreshadowed Homes That Are for Som.e of Us. 

330. (a) "Friends, it seems to be for me to say again to 
you that you — all of you — have beautiful homes over in the 
spirit worlds; homes not made with hands, homes that will 
endure along the coming ages, homes already prepared for you 
and waiting the time for you to shuffle off the mortal body; 
then you, by help of your friends gone before, will find those 
beautiful homes over here, and you will find the homes all 
ready furnished to your own delight, and your escort, your own 
loved ones gone before, waiting here to greet your coming. 
They that have induced you to learn of this great truth so much 
on. earth will also show you the road of every acquisition of 
knowledge of immortal life and glory. 

(o) "So I found when I came to this side. I was so glad 
to find here a home for me that had been prepared by my learn- 
ing, to a limited degree, of that home while in the mortal. And 
to find that I and the home had been prepared by my loving 
friends and kindred who had preceded me and stood waiting 
and welcoming me with heaven's richest melodious strains as 
they saw me approaching and landing among those glorious 
celestial conditions. 

Pure Spirits Manifest Not Evil. 

331. "And again, I am requested to say to you that no 
spirit that was pure on earth will manifest evil of its own 
accord. And no spirit in the body or out of it that tries to do 
what will injure you, that tries to reduce you down, is of high 
character. 

Not So Much Evil Spirits as Ignorance of Mortals. 

332. "But spirits have a great deal to bear, friends. 
Do not accuse us of it all. A thorough investigation would 
show that ofttimes mortals are partly, and frequently wholly, to 
blame; that if there were evil manifested, it was entirely from 
the mortal side; or that but for some imperfection on the mor- 
tal side, there would not have been the appearance of evil. 

333. u But, oh, the ignorance of mortal man concerning this most 
■glorious and sacred truth of phenomenal Spiritualism!" 

Abraham Lincoln, 

334. As he now sees some things, in very earnest, delib- 
erate manner, said: 

(a) "I thank you, friends, for this occasion. But when I 
approach your plane, I am led in spirit over the condition of 



140 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

your country, and am led to feel sometimes that I ought to be 
able to be replaced among you, politically, until I could per 
feet a reconstruction of your government along the lines 1 had 
in view; because I can now see what a great boon it would have 
been not only to you, but ultimately to the world. At least it 
seems to me now that the designs I had would have placed your 
country in better shape than it is in. 

(b) "But I was called away suddenly, and times, as you 
term it, have changed. I suppose that those occupying the 
executive chair in succession to me have all along thought they 
were doing right. Nevertheless I think not. But I am not here 
at this time to discuss the politics of your country. 

(c) "I am here, however, to tell you of what T have seen 
and heard since in this most glorious country. 

(d) "I have met many of those who were my old-time 
friends on earth, who are much more dear to me now because 
I can see the sincerity of their inner lives, which on earth were 
hidden from my discernment. Then I could only see the out- 
ward; now I see the inner life. 

(e) "There is no deception here; no cause, no reason here 
for attempting to deceive. 

if) "But on your side there is much deception. You do 
not know your fellow-man; yea, I say to you that you do not 
so much as know yourselves until you get to the condition of 
unobstructed spirit vision. 

Retribution of the Deceiver. 

335. "You can deceive one another, but for all such decep- 
tion the offender must at some time answer in his own person 
on this side of life, for the individual carries upon his constitu- 
tion the impress of every act of his whole life, open alike to 
himself and all spirits with whom he may meet. 

336. "At request of the good controls here, I have said 
this much as some foreshadowing to you of what you will Und 
and what you will be on the immortal side of life. I should say, 
perhaps, in the spirit world, for you are, so far as your spirit 
organism is concerned, already immortal. 

The Little Babes, Pre-Natal and Post-Natal. — Earth and Spirit 
World Environments. — School Life Conditions. 

337. (a) "The little babe comes into your world as a 
spirit pure, so far as it is or can be concerned. Nothing of 
wrong, nothing of crime can be charged against the little waif. 
It is there, and that not of its own accord. It cannot be blamed 
for ante-natal conditions that may have been unfavorable- 
Somebody else may be, but not the innocent babe. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 141 

(o) "As the babe grows on your earth, it takes on the vi- 
cious conditions of wrongly constituted society and its pure 
spirit takes on in its form of manifestation just such physical 
organism for its manifesting machine as the surrounding en- 
vironments, ante- and post-natal, will allow. 

337^. "Hence, as your society of to-day is constituted, the 
vice steadily steals into the constitution of the once pure lit- 
tle cherub; and society, not the bale, is to blame for that. 

(a) "But society, that made it vicious, murders it, because 
it, in killing some person, simply reflected the same murderous 
spirit of society itself. Let the world reflect a moment. Let 
the political statesman reflect a moment and ask himself wheth- 
er or not there is not need of great statesmanship now as at 
any period of your world's history. 

So Many Thousands Prematurely Sent to Spirit Life, and What Then? 

338. (a) "Let your whole world listen to what I say now: 
Many thousands of little babes are constantly being sent to 
this side of life without the experiences of earth. 

(h) "Many thousands of pure spirits watch them approach- 
ing these shores, and on their arrival receive them into tender, 
loving arms and bear them away to homes prepared for them; 
away from vice, from sin, from iniquity, from the presence and knowl- 
edge of darkened ones and of dark conditions, where they are per- 
mitted only the society of bright and good and noble, congenial, 
loving souls, until grown strong enough in goodness and purity 
not to become viciously contaminated by association with low 
conditions; then for its stronger growth it is permitted to visit 
earth scenes and study the laws of conditions and of human 
unfoldment necessary to pass it on to higher and brighter 
spheres. 

Government Should Provide Amelioration for Unfortunate Women. 

339. (a) "Another great concern to a soul of sympathy is 
that many women are left to make their own way in your world 
having inadequate conditions in which to pass their lives in 
any degree of comfort. So burdensome their lot that many are 
soon taken out of their bodies, but others live on a miserable 
existence; and others, after awhile, begin to think there is a 
heaven and begin to train themselves in that direction. 

(b) "But a great nation falls far short of true national 
greatness in not providing against these low social conditions, 
but the rather fostering them. 

(c) "I hope what I have at this time said may go out and 
help the world, and may tend to give a healthy moral tone to 
those who may be influenced in anv way therebv." 



!42 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Thomas Paine, 

340. For one moment spoke, saying: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. This is a glorious opportunity 
to me, this coming back to the world with tidings from the 
spirit world. 

(&) "By and by, when you come to this side, we will gladly 
meet and welcome you, and, when here, you will have no worry 
about your neighbors and taxes. Nevertheless you will not 
find it paradise to which you come, but to spirit life, and we 
will show to you the good country. 

(c) "The good brother there [Mr. Pratt] will leave that old 
body, that palsied body, for one of eternal youth. Then, friends, 
think of the noble of all ages for your associates. As for me, 
I could not accept the dogmas laid down upon my table, but 
still I meet good, grand, glorious conditions over here." 

341. "Anna Clemens is my name. I was in dark condi- 
tions, but now my life is bright." 

342. "I am Round Tree. I knew Mr. Pratt's father sixty 
or seventy years ago." 

343. Another said: "I am Justin Cook, of Baird, Texas. 

(a) "I was happily disappointed when I came to spirit life. 
Everything was so grand and glorious. Spirits had told me it 
was grand, but no dreams did ever portray the beauty of this 
world as I found it, and its glory and grandeur continually loom 
up before my ecstatic spirit vision. 

(b) "I am glad you are doing such great work here. I 
used to have tussles with the preacher, but I found it was 
wasted ammunition. I visit same as on earth, excepting no 
trouble of transportation. I just get up and go, and behold! 
I am there." 

Seance No. 28. 

March 25, 1900. 
343J. After the ordinary preliminaries, Denton, in full 
form and good oral speech, said: "How do you all do, anyway, 
this evening?" 

Circle: "We are all feeling fairly well at this time, but it 
mav be only temporary; brieflv so. How are vou of the other 
side?" 

(a) Spirit: "Oh, friends, I wish you mortals could feel as 
healthful and young and gay and happy as we, for in spirit life 
all worry and sickness and pain and anxiety, as experienced on 
earth, are gone. 

(b) "Nevertheless, all. those pains and discords of mortal- 
ity are absolutely necessary experiences in order to ultimate 
healthy unfoldment of humanity individualized. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 143 

Has Met Many Spirits Who Were Poor on Earth. 

(c) "I have met many spirits who were very poor when on 
earth, as you count poverty. Many of these poor people passed 
to this side of life prematurely because of empty stomachs. 
This may not be an Clite expression, but it is a solemn fact. 
Eating and something to eat are essential to preservation of 
the physical body. None can subsist without, unless the law 
changes. 

The North Pole. 

344. (a) "Suppose you should find the North Pole, what 
do you think you would have? How many lives are being lost 
trying to reach the North Pole? It is quite likely that many 
more will sacrifice their lives in the vain attempt. And should 
someone succeed after a while, after a long, long while, do you 
suppose he will find the country of the North Pole very densely 
populated? Not by persons clothed apon with mortal bodies; 
but spirits can neither be burned nor frozen out. Spirits may 
be dwelling at the North Pole, as they may desire; and as spir- 
its some of the lost North Pole hunters will have no trouble 
in reaching the North Pole. Spirits in the spirit world can 
actually reach the poles, but it will be long in the future before 
mortal man will be able to travel to the poles. 

(b) "What good if we should tell you all about the North 
Pole? And I do tell you most there is to tell when I say the 
poles are not much inhabited — not even by mercury. It is 
quite cool over there. 

(c) "But some people don't believe there is any North 
Pole. Well, it is hardly worth while to waste one human life 
in attempting to dispel such ignorance." 

W. C. Brann. 

345. "I am present again. I told you the other evening 
that I passed to this side very suddenly. 

(a) "I did not believe very much in Spiritualism. I did 
believe in a better life. I did believe there must be somewhere, 
some way, a life of better conditions than even boasted Amer- 
ican conditions furnish for the generality of mankind. And I 
felt that even American conditions I could not tolerate. I did 
not hesitate to express in the most caustic manner my opinion 
of such unhallowed conditions furuished by government, by 
society, in which the tares of human wretchedness might take 
root and grow. I thought I was right, and fearlessly expressed 
myself. But early I had to go, and go suddenly. 

(b) "Yet there was only one thing that I regretted and 
still regret: to leave my dear wife thus suddenly, and to think 



144 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

that when I now approach near to her she does not realize my 
presence. 

(c) "Now I realize the great effort of spirit return. I had 
heard of this, but I did not investigate thoroughly. Yet 1 
thought much about it, and I read of it, but I would say to 
myself, 'I will know when 1 get there, anyway; and I pass it 
now, for a more convenient season.' 

(6) "Well, friends, I did get there, and now I do know it 
to be eternal truth. Of course I have not had a great experi- 
ence from which to relate to you at length. I am trying to 
reach my friends on earth, and hope some of them will see this 
book, but of course some of them will not see that this is \Y 
C. Brann. 

(e) "I notice that some people change much soon after 
arrival here, but I yet have much of my old earthly dispositions 
and characteristic traits for which I met with opposition on 
earth, and some of the opposition was quite fierce. 

(/) "In trying to reach my friends since I have been here, 
I have seen many seances, and I find there is much fraud, but 
not all, by any means. Some mediums are not so much fraud 
as in the wrong pew, and ought not to practice as professionals 
at all. 

(g) "I cannot hold my form any longer, but must go." And 
the spirit vanished. 

346. And immediately the artist was in visible form at the 
writing-table and in his usual way made a portrait, which is 
one of his best efforts so far. 

(a) He said: "This is a picture of one of the^tar Circle." 
(No. 16.) As the artist went away, the voice of Sam in the cab- 
inet said: "That is the picture of a nice lady, and she will now 
nave something to say to you." And immediately a woman 
form, in most beautiful robes of almost dazzling white, and a 
coronal star, stood before us just exactly in the attitude and 
appearance of the portrait, and in a whisper said: 

Bachel Diogenes. 

347. "I am Bachel Diogenes. 

(a) "I have been a long time in the spirit world. I have 
liad a vast experience here. Many have passed me and gone 
to higher spheres away beyond me. But somehow it has been 
mine to help the lowly out of darkness; and I have been con- 
tent at such work. 

(b) "I lived a good life on earth, and by my example there 
I tried to let the lowly discern the better way: and I suppose 
it is for the pattern of example that I am held so long aiuoni; 
those who need such help. 



BKYOND THE VAIL. 



145 




RACHEL DIOGENES. 



(347.) 



BV 10 



146 ItVYOND THE VAIL. 

(c) "A great many think they should be as bright as I, 
; i ml soon strive to pattern after me. 

(d) "I suppose that I have been the means of the reform 
of many more than five thousand of unfortunates out of the 
most distressing conditions as resultants of the most ignorant 
and debauched lives of the earth, from which conditions I found 
them to be almost irredeemable. But oh, how awfully distress- 
ing to behold those in such degraded primitive conditions! 
Enough work, it would seem, to occupy one for almost an 
eternity. 

ie) "But by and by I shall ascend, and some good soul will 
take my place at this, to me now, very pleasing work." 

348. As Rachel returned into the cabinet at the southeast 
corner, little Nellie parted the curtains in the center and stood 
in the parting, jabbering away in childish glee over the doctor's 
written narrative of her birthday party. (See paragraph 1201.) 

(a) As the curtains closed in front of little Nellie, there 
came a full-sized form of a man, speaking in good vocal oratory, 
and said: 

319. "I am James G. Blaine. Friends, a great many peo- 
ple did not think I was capable of adequately filling the pres- 
idential chair of the United States, and therefore I was relieved 
of politics, and now I care not for the worry of the politician; 
but I am trying to do something else. 

(a) "I find that politics injured me. I find that it takes 
some politicians many, many years to reach the seventh sphere, 
and they tell me that when they do get there, they seldom want 
to come back to the troubles and turmoils of the political cess- 
pool. And I suppose when my friends all get over^here I shall 
seldom want to come back, for of those remaining, I will be 
known to but few, and to those only in political historic 



Thomas Paine. 

350. When Blaine was gone, immediately Thomas Paine 
came forth and said: 

(a) "Well, friends, I 'm here. I was not a politician. I 
believed in and taught the rights of man — not of any special set 
of men, but of universal man; and I shall return to earth or 
elsewhere whenever I can be of any service to mankind, whether 
they want me or not. 

(o) "I am glad to see so many come here and tell that they 
have changed and how they have changed, and how well they 
are satisfied since they know of the fact that there is a higher 
home than the mere rudimental of earth. 

(c) "I have a most glorious home that I make for myself, 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 147 

and I am gathering material from everywhere to build to, 
adorn, and decorate that home of mine while I am helping oth- 
ers to build homes for themselves." 

Seance No. 29. 

March 20, 11)00. 

351. Dr. Reed opened the seance, and told us we need not 
expect a great deal at this time, for the reason that conditions 
are not favorable. And later in the seance he appeared at the 
writing-desk, saying: "I will continue my narrative." But only 
a few lines, which are placed at paragraph 1207. 

35H. (a) Honorable R. T. Van Horn, of Kansas City, Mo., 
and Dr. E. J. Schellhous, of Rosedale, Kansas, expressed a de- 
sire to visit these seances. Accordingly, arrangements were 



(-»' 



made for them to do so the first week in April. 

Professor Denton 

352. Now stands forth, speaking of this matter, saying: 

(a) "Friends, do you think from what you know of those 
gentlemen that they are prepared to fully comprehend this 
work as we are now conducting it? 

(b) "Of course we do not doubt their mental ability to com- 
prehend, but whether or not they, without some more prelim- 
inary experiences such as you have had for years, are prepared 
to go into this work with you and be assimilated to us and to 
you in their magnetic conditions, without the thought of im- 
personation to hinder their mental and magnetic support. Even 
they may think they need no more experience than they already 
have, and yet be mistaken. 

(c) "We have talked the matter over, and for the occasion 
may deem it best to change the programme. I do not say that 
we will, but when they get here, we. may find it best. We want 
to do the best for them that conditions will allow, and it may 
be that these gentlemen will be found so much en rapport with 
us that we can carry on our regular programme. And we hope 
at least they are of sufficient acumen to understand that, al- 
though their general natural and experimental conditions arc 
all right for other phases, yet not at once assimilate to our 
work here. 

(d) "You mortals, however, should do what you can to 
have them understand the situation, and what is requisite, and 
what they should expect; and it may be that they will be able 
to receive the work the same as you do." 



148 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 




r \r- 




PAP SAWYER. 



Pap Sawyer, a Suicide. 

353. A spirit, in full form and very good oral speech, 
said : 

(a) "My name is Sawyer, of Dallas, Texas. I passed out of 
the physical body by a dose of morphine. 

(b) "I have had hard conditions to deal with since I have 
been here. I have found out that it is not right for one to take 
his own life. 

(c) "Yes, I may have been somewhat out of my mind, as 
you would say, but I was troubled, was in great distress, and I 
thought I had lived about long enough. It seemed to me that 
I was in everybody's way. 

(d) "I was a Spiritualist so far as to understand there is 
future life. I thought that if I quit the tenement of clay, I 
would at once be located in a beautiful place, in gardens of 
flowers and most glorious scenery, egad! 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 149 

(e) "But how terribly I was mistaken! I cannot — words 
cannot describe the awful condition in which I found myself. 

(/) "This place is indeed a nice place, is most wonderfully 
beautiful as a place, but that only troubled my poor, benighted 
soul all the more, for I was guilty of murdering myself. I had 
offended my own being with my own hands. 

(g) "Oh, friends, it is awful to be in such fix as I was! I 
thought I would hunt up Jesus, but I have not yet found Him, 
egad! 

(Ii) "Yes, I used to say my wife was the best medium ever 
was, egad! But I was jealous and unmercifullly troubled my- 
self until I finished up my mortal life in the awful tragedy. 

(i) "But those things are now all of the past. Good spirits 
met me and showed me the way. And now this glorious world 
shines brightly upon me." (For suicides, see B. V., 1166, 1186; 
R, V., 1615-1629.) 

Denton 

354. Came from the cabinet, and said: 

(a) "Friends, that spirit just here was in very dark condi- 
tions, but we found him, we helped him; and, finally, by our 
assistance, he has risen out of the dark to brighter conditions. 
He does now greatly rejoice, and is exceedingly happy. 

(&) "And although he feels that he has much lost time to 
account for, yet his joy is inexpressible." 

Willie Peacock. 

355. "Now a spirit stands in the cabinet doorway, looking 
toward Mrs. House. Presently she recognizes the spirit as her 
son Willie, and after formal greetings of the two, the spirit 
said: 

(a) "We have a beautiful home over here for you, mother, 
but you should not be in a hurry to reach it. You should not 
worry so much as you do about affairs. You work more than 
you need to. Remember, mother, that when your time comes 
to go hence, we shall meet you as you reach these beautiful 
shores and be of your brilliant escort into our glorious flower 
gardens and your enduring home in the midst of them. 

(b) "You know, mother, that 1 have been here a great num- 
ber of years; and during my stay here I have met many of both 
dark and bright spirits. T find very many who are anxious to 
talk with me, and a great many others are loath to do so. Some 
do not seem to want to know anything in addition to their lim- 
ited knowledge, having no aspirations for any higher attain- 
ments in any way. But there are plenty who do wish to move 
up their scale of being to engage our attention. 



150 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

{c) "I have teen mafic a teacher in one of our colleges or 
places of learning here. 

(d) "I have met many of feminine nature, so pure, so beau- 
tiful, so spiritual, that I gladly receive lessons of instruction 
from them — from their lives; and this is a glorious opportu- 
nity to me. 

(e) "But not all are progressive. The teacher has his prin- 
cipal burd' n in awakening and kindling to active life the latent 
energies of such as these. 

(/) "I have been all the while contemplating the some time 
when my dear mother would cross to this side of life, and I 
have tried to so live that I can be able to assist in a triumphant 
welcoming to her, and that among the happy thousands on that 
glad morning my glad mother will gladly behold her own boy 
as a son of righteousness swelling the enchanting music of the 
escorting hosts as they pass along the highways of those de- 
lightful celestial gardens." 

356. Then one giving her name as Lucy said: "For the 
great benefit I have received 1 wish to express my most sincere 
gratitude and thanks to these spirits here, and to you mortals, 
and to the great hosts of spirit missionaries." 

357. A spirit giving his name as Willie Westmoreland 
said: "I would be glad to have you say to my mamma, who 
lives in Dallas, Texas, that I send to her my love. But I expect 
she will think I am far from home." 

358. A materialization stood a moment, then said: "I am 
Johnnie Watkins, late of Pinkston, Texas. I was in very dark 
conditions when first 1 entered what is called the spirit world; 
and it was a very hard pull for me to get out of those 
conditions. 

(a) "Sometimes when on earth, or rather when I was in 
the physical body, I went into that peculiar condition called 
'trance.' 

(b) "One day I was found in that condition by some per- 
sons who supposed me to be dead. I was taken to the under- 
taker, who immediately began using his embalming fluid, and 
that quickly set me out of my body, so that when I came out 
of that trance I was on the other side of Jordan, and the under 
taker held his job. 

(c) "But the great cause of my dark conditions was that 
I was addicted to the habit of strong drink to such extent as 
to create a craving appetite fixed to my very being, which was 
not dropped with the body. 

id) "So deeply burned this terrible appetite that I sought 
and found a human channel for satiation, but that poor mortal 
did not know what demon was preying upon him. 

(e) "Some wiser one than I called mv attention to these 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 151 

things, and J saw the great wrong I was inflicting on a help- 
less victim, and only putting off the day of my own delivery. 

(g) "Having found the great wrong T was doing, I soon 
found that I could resist the appetite, which I did, until I over- 
came it altogether, and am now reformed in spirit. 

(h) k 'In addition to this experience of mine, I would say 
to any young man that any beverage containing alcohol is a 
deadly drug — deadly in proportion to the alcohol — and small 
potions unite with larger ones, which will lead the young man 
down, whoever he may be, will lead him down, sooner or later, 
and deprive him of self-respect, of love, of friends, of every- 
thing in your world; and not satisfied with that, it leaps the 
tomb itself and invades the peace of the victim in the spirit 
world and seeks to fasten more galling chains upon its old asso- 
ciates of the convivial bar. 

(/') "But oh! my friends, many a man gets into worse and 
lower conditions than 1 did; and since I am able to approach, 
without danger to myself, those men, I see them going, going 
down into the dark abyss of King Bibbler; I try and must keep 
on trying to redeem them in compensation, in restitution of the 
wrongs of my own past career." 

359. Now comes the artist, somewhat disgruntled because 
the controls have used up the forces so he cannot do good work 
and he does not know that he can do otherwise than make a 
small picture. So he calls the subject out so, as he says, he 
can see him, and makes a small picture, which, to those of the 
circle who have seen Sumner's portrait, resembles the picture 
of Charles Sumner. 

Seance No. 30. 

April 1. 1900. 

300. After the control Dr. Tieed had opened the seance, 
the spirit Professor William Denton, in very full volume of 
voice and eloquent manner, said: 

(a) "It has heretofore been amply discussed why it is that 
we cannot or do not manifest as well when a new element is 
in the circle, and why different new elements do not permit 
equal manifestations, and now that question is up again. 

(b) ''We have told you and now again say that it is im- 
possible for us to manifest to those not en rapport with each 
of you. with each other, and with us. We have told you and you 
ought to know, and every Spiritualist ought to know, what is 
meant by the term l en rapport. 1 

(c) "We try to do all we can to manifest to satisfaction, 
but often a new element, not being assimilated to our condi- 
tions here requisite for this particular work, will almost entire- 
ly close the door against any manifestation at all, and we are 
powerless to proceed. 



152 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(d) "You must remember that you have grown up here,, 
as it were, with this work, and a long time it was before you 
were prepared for it. 

(e) "And you cannot expect another to require less 
time than you; and another who knows anything at all about 
it should know that each phase of phenomena requires condi- 
tions peculiar to itself; and that therefore we cannot go ahead 
with our work having a new member of the circle until 
the new member is worked up to the required rapport, just as 
you were at the beginning. 

if) "If you have a child, it grows up with you, and you can 
do more with it and for it than any other person can. And r 
again, that child understands you better than it understands 
or can understand anybody else. This illustration, you should 
be able to see, is applicable in this case. 

Prejudice of Spirits to Overcome. 

361. "We are surely trying to shed this light abroad and 
deliver it to all who sincerely seek it. 

(a) "But there are spirits as well as mortals who are so 
prejudiced from long false teaching that they are not to be 
reached by our efforts for them until experience, somewhere, 
sometime, somehow, leads them to ask to know whether there 
is greater light for them. But we can, and right gladly do, 
reach all those who realize their need of helpful instruction to 
more beautiful conditions." 

362. When Denton had gone away, Keed continued his 
written narrative. (See paragraph 1208.) 

363. And now comes the artist in great glee: "Me no 
be foolee allee timee. Makee nicee picture. For Mrs. Aber." 

364. When the artist had made this picture and gone, im- 
mediately there stood before the circle the spirit 

Wesley Aber, 

whose vocalization is at least as good as that of Denton, and 
sometimes nearly equal to that of Thomas Paine. On this occa- 
sion Wesley said: 

(a) "Friends, I am glad to see something new all the time. 
We try to give as good matter as we possibly can. And the 
artist is doing his share right handsomely. 

(&) "When this book is finished, we hope it will not be 
our last one. 

(c) "The book 'Bending the Vail,' already given, has set 
several investigators to deeper study than they had thought 
this philosophy embraces. It has done much and is doing and 
will do more to set inquiring minds toward a confidential study 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



153 



of their own being's worth and to place their conclusions of 
life eternal upon a sure foundation, immovable, everlasting. 
And some who did not believe are able now from that book to 
look into eternity and see themselves in conscious personal 
identity, scaling perpetually the enduring heights. 




ELSIE, MRS. ABER'S TEST CONTROL. 



(363.) 



(d) "Friends, every day that book is being read, even with 
astonishment and wonder. And you will be proud, dear 
friends, ere long, to behold the wonderful effect of the work of 
your patience here in this little hamlet, as yet unknown to the 
world. Although near the center of a great nation, it is meet 
that here may be a focu sing-point toward which celestial civil- 
izing influences may concentrate, and from here radiate to all 
of earth's inhabitants. 

(e) "Insignificant as your work may now seem to you, 
generations yet unborn will hail it with gladness. Great 



154 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

hosts on this side of life already rejoice to see the future benef- 
icence to man of this work here. And when your work is done, 
these great hosts will shout to you: 'Welcome, faithful serv- 
ants, home at last!' " 

E. V. Wilson, 

305. In a form of the similitude of his old, robust, mortal 
body, and with voice very similar to his platform style of ora- 
tory, said: 

(a) "I am glad of this opportunity, and T shall not ask you 
to excuse this intrusion, because, you know, I am a privileged 
character. 

(b) "Friends, it seems strange, passing strange, that there 
should be so much ignorance in your world — and ours too, in 
consequence. 

(c) "Most of your town, at this time, are out at meeting — 
at church, they say — but for what? To obtain any useful knowl- 
edge? To treasure up enduring truth? To obtain ideas that 
will stand as anchors to the soul when met by the inquiry of a 
solid foundation? 

"Where are the learned — the scientific of your world to- 
day? Are thev in the Church, with the Church, at the church? 
Not at all. But why? 

(d) "They cannot be scientific and be of the Church, as it is 
to-day. The teachings of the Church to-day, as to its funda- 
mental dogmas, are absolutely at variance with the facts of 
science. 

(e) "Say, Mr. Secretary, what do you think of God or (what 
is the same thing) theology in the constitution, and therefore 
in the public schools, to anathematize the elucidation of scien 
tific facts? 

(f) "And here is my good old sister, Mrs. House. How do 
you do? Do you remember and recognize me?" 

Mrs. House: "Oh, yes, indeed I do, Mr. Wilson." 

(g) Spirit: "I see you are growing very old, as counted 
on earth. I used to think I was old. Most all of this circle are 
growing old. Nature has preserved your bodies to ripe old age 
and may need them a little while yet. 

(/?) "Your bodies, though, are falling off — going back for 
other forms — and not long at most ere those old bodies will be 
all taken away by Nature, as worn-out clothing, leaving, how- 
ever, a much finer and more glorious clothing in which your 
spirits will dwell and be as young as ever — eternally young — 
never more in old and feeble condition. 

(?) "Now, you ask, why do I remain looking thus old and 



gray? 



(/) "I do so because when I approach the earth-plane I 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 155 

take on old earthly conditions, and this in order that yon may 
know me and then know that because I live ye also shall live. 
(fc) "And now, dear friends, we ask good conditions for 
you. We ask that you be surrounded by good spirits who will 
guide you along the way of right. And your little ones who, 
years ago, came to these beautiful homes, you will find grown 
up to be beautiful men and women. 

And each of these in waiting stand 
To take the coming parents' hand." 

James A. Garfield 

366. Introduced himself, and, after proving his identity to 
the satisfaction of the circle, spoke a moment, thus: 

(a) "I am greatly delighted to be present in this way, 
even but a moment. But I have been an astonished auditor 
here many times, attentively listening to these wonderful 
speeches, made in this wonderful way. 

(&) "You may think you are a small congregation, but 
could your eyes behold the immense and much delighted audi- 
ences on this side, attending your meetings, you, too, would be 
astonished. 

(c) "I did not believe such things at all possible. But now 
I know; and knowledge is the key that opens up the light of 
truth as set up in the kingdom of Nature. 

(d) "Please inform my medium at Decatur, 111., that all 
will come out right." 

C. K. Tlolliday, 

367. Late of Topeka, Kansas, salutes the circle and intro- 
duces himself in a whisper; hoping to be able to report himself 
more fully later on, when he shall have gained some experience 
to report. 

Seance No. 31. 

April 5, 1900. 

368. Hon. K. T. Van Horn, Kansas City, Mo., and Dr. E. J. 
Schellhous, of Bosedale, Kansas, admitted as members of the 
circle. 

(a) Dr. Keed, as usual, opened the seance by general salu- 
tation; and his manner indicated that, notwithstanding the 
presence of the new elements, phenomena nearly up to the 
standard would be produced, which proved to be the case. 

(b) But over-anxiety of the spirit friends of the new 
members to make themselves known, and of our elocutionists 
and orators to exhibit this phase to the Colonel and Doctor, 
diverted the work in hand so as not to furnish quite so much 
matter for the publication; but the seance, phenomenally, was 



150 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

a success, and it is likely that the introduction of the spirit 
friends of the Colonel and Doctor may result in some matter 
of general interest that we would not obtain but for the pres- 
ence of these visitors, who, by the way, seem in complete 
rapport with conditions necessary for our work. And so 

Prof. Denton 

369. Stood to view, being clothed upon with temporary 
body, neatly clad in garments of men's style of attire, and spoke 
in his wonderful way, saying: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. I must say that I am glad of 
this opportunity, and I wish I could stand before the multitudes 
and talk to them as I am able to talk to you here. I think that 
I could so speak as to be of interest, even to the skeptical list- 
eners. But the world is no longer satisfied with phetorically 
fine-spun theories. It now wants demonstration. It demands 
the proof as the old, old question, 'If a man die, shall he live 
again?' comes knocking at the door of his soliloquies on the 
ominous clause, 'If a man die.' 

"No, no, dear friends. Man does not die. Man never dies. 
Man never did die. Man always existed and will exist always. 

(b) "The body, temporarily taken on for a specific purpose, 
continually dissolves away, is constantly dropping off; and 
when no longer needed, suddenly the remaining form drops off 
from the spiritual organism. Thus the body — the house, dies 
or dissolves, but the organic, spiritual entity — the man, never 
dies, and we are here to help to demnostrate that fact to the 
world. 

Scientists After Planets, hut What Good of That? 

370. (a) "Friends, do you know that your so-called sci- 
entists are not demonstrating Spiritualism, but are bending 
their whole energies toward some planetary discoveries? Sup- 
pose they do waste the energies of their whole earthly lives in 
planetary research, and do make some discoveries, what have 
they obtained in remuneration? The great question of the 
world is not 'What of the planets?' but 'What of life?' 
And that question we begin to answer. Then the great greed 
for money comes in with its selfish question: 

(c) " 'What can you do for me?' Friends, we are not here 
to hunt gold for you; but we are here to tell of life, of future 
life, of life eternal, and of the various conditions of the whole 
arena of life. 

(d) "But, friends, be not angry with skeptics. For they 
will know in the time to come; and their very expression of 
doubt is often the opening of the way of light to them, and 
leads them on to fin all v know the truth .* 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 157 

(e) "What if they do call you cranks, fools, and all that? 
You people here know what you do know, and that what you do 
know they, regrettingly late, will some time gladly know." 

371. Now we hear the artist jabbering in the cabinet; in 
a moment he is out of the cabinet and at the arena table with 
his box of sketch-paper and crayons, jabbering the while, ap- 
parently in great glee: "Makee nicee picture." And here Dr. 
Ileed steps out of the cabinet to the arena table and the artist 
retires into the cabinet, while Reed picks up a tablet from the 
table, steps to a point directly between Col. Van Horn and the 
cabinet door, tablet in left hand, and with right hand writes in 
tablet a page, tears the leaf upon which is the writing from the 
tablet and writes another page, tears that leaf out, places the 
tablet on the stand, and hands the writing to Col. Van Horn 
and retires. But while the spirit was writing he also was talk- 
ing, saying: 

372. "I am now demonstrating to you one of the greatest 
of all possible facts of modern Spiritualism, and I am glad to 
say that this great fact is not outside of law, but in strict con- 
formity with the law. But yet, you may ask: How is it possible 
for such things to be under the law? Of course, the first 
thing to settle is as to the fact, and that you have here. 

(a) "You have witnessed slate writing, and you have 
known writing done on the inside of a pair of closed slates, and 
you say: 'How miraculous!' 

(b) "Not at all. No more marvelous or miraculous than 
phenomena all about you that you don't consider outside of law 
at all. You plant a tiny little seed in the dark ground and watch 
it. And out of it you see arise a beautiful plant, full of beautiful 
blooms. You plant the grain of corn to see corn reproduced. 
And you observe the continual reproduction of man himself, 
and do you suppose that the laws that do all these most myste- 
rious things are not also able to reclothe a spirit and stand him 
again before you to do es^en more wonderful things than he did 
when first you knew him on earth, clothed upon with his tempo- 
rary earthly body?" 

(c) And while tearing the second leaf from the tablet, 
the spirit said to the secretary: "This writing finishes my 
written narrative of the illustration of the question of hell and 
heaven." 

(The reader will find a copv of the writing at paragraphs 
1208-1210.) 

373. At the conclucion of Reed's writing, the artist reap- 
peared and executed his finest work, so far, in the bust portrait 
of a woman form, as yet unrecognized, but we presume it is 
one of our narrators (No. 18). 



158 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

374. Milton McGee and 

375. Col. Sam Wood introduced themselves to Col. Van 
Horn, and the Colonel is sure that he fully and unmistakably 
recognized their personalities. 

376. W. C. Brann made himself known to Col. Van Horn. 

377. Mary C. Levy also introduced herself to the Colonel 
as a medium whom he had known at Washington. 

(a) After making herself fully known to the Colonel, this 
spirit stepped to the trumpet which is suspended from the ceil- 
ing and serves as a speaking-trumpet, by which the secretary is 
able to gather all the words spoken in a whisper, although the 
words are generally so uttered as to be heard by those of the 
circle having their hearing clear. In this position the spirit, in 
a whisper, said: 

(b) "I am truly glad to be here in this way. 1 have been 
much interested in your work and have had a strong desire on 
former occasions to make myself known to you, but those 
spirits here, wiser than I, informed me that if I would be patient 
a more opportune occasion for me would soon be presented, 
and that time has come by virtue of the Colonel's presence. 
And I do feel so thankful toward these controls, this medium 
and circle and the Colonel. 

(c) "Since my transition I have found this side of life pre- 
sents opportunities for the exercise of energy, healthful desire 
of the awakened soul. For there are those in every conceiv- 
able condition of unfoldment from the very lowest and rudi- 
mental to conditions far beyond my present attainments. 

(d) The Colonel knows of my efforts for humanity while 
on earth. That field of labor is not closed to me here, but seems 
to be infinitely extended, and with joy unbounded I am ever 
at work here as I was there. 

(e) "And a very pleasing task assigned to me over here is 
the adorning of habitations and homes for the approaching 
friends of earth, and upon their entrance into this beautiful 
world to have provided for them appropriate escort to the hab- 
itations of their new conditions; and, kind sir, will you please 
to inform the Colonel that his friends here behold his bark ap- 
proaching, though a little way out at sea yet? but when landing 
here a glad welcome will salute him, and in glorious triumph 
escort him to his home elvsian." 

Frankie Schellhous. 

378. A form, as that of a woman clad in dazzlingly white 
garments, came out of the cabinet at the parting of the curtains 
in center of cabinet front, beckoning toward Dr. Schellhous, and 
was finally clearly recognized by the Doctor as his daughter, 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 159 

who long since passed to the spirit side of life, and she said 
to him: 

(a) "My dear papa, how happy I am of this wonderful op- 
portunity. I will try to say a word for the book in progress 
here, as the guides have kindly granted me the privilege. As 
that good spirit just told you, I also find spirits in all conditions 
whose object of being is for more exalted degrees of unfold- 
ment, and the exercise of my sympathetic nature among the 
lowly and needy has been the means of taking many from the 

. mire and the clay, as it were, and of putting new songs in their 
mouths and beautiful floral coronals upon their heads, and at 
the same time has carried me up progression's heights, so that 
I can gaze upon the beautiful hills that rise on those evergreen 
plains and stretch and fade away in the dim distance, revealing 
mountains of light yet to be reached and climbed. Oh, what 
ineffable grandeurs eternity reflects upon the receptive, sen- 
sitive, spiritual consciousness! 

(b) "I was my papa's idol, and I hope to so exist that that 
idolatry will not be found wanting, but that in a little time now 
he and his idol and all his household will be reunited evermore." 

(c) Then these two last mentioned spirits, alternately 
standing at the arena table, on which was a vase of flowers, 
took therefrom one flower at a time, and threw at and to the 
Doctor and Colonel, and various other persons of the circle, and 
then faded away. 

379. Then the form of a man stood forth beckoning toward 
Col. Van Horn, which the Colonel recognized as his brother — 
that he had a brother who passed over when quite young. "Of 
course," said the spirit, "I 've grown here, same as 1 would 
there; but look here." Then the form began contracting in 
stature, until of the size of a child; then with childish voice said: 
"How is that?" And the Colonel expressed satisfaction and 
the little boy was gone, and in his place instantly there stood 
to view of the circle 

Thomas Paine, 

380. Who, in his most vigorously elocutionary manner, 
spoke thus: 

(a) "Friends, I am glad of the bright faces here this 
evening. 1 am glad of^he good work you are doing. I thought, 
when on earth, I was doing right, and find that very much of it 
was right. 

(h) "I have since learned much of both the spiritual and 
physical, and find it best that you remain as long as possible in 
the physical, in order that you more nearly execute the purpose 
of your being. And when you come to this side of life you will 
find plenty to do, so that you can always be busy here, as on 
earth. 



160 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



(c) "I try to be busy doing good for mortals and spirits 
and I find that I can profitably be continually engaged in some 
ameliorating work. 

(d) "My friends, can you tell — do you know of any other 
system that so well proves that you live on, eternally on, as 
Spiritualism with its incontrovertible facts and philosophy? 

(e) "Your Bible tells you that the bad will go to hell, but 
I find that is not so. I find there is no hell nor heaven, as ob- 
jective; that both heaven and hell are subjective, and conditions 
of yourselves which you make; and that you can learn to unmake 
any hell you ever have, and to create for yourself any desirable 
heaven. And when you are over here the parties and person- 
ages whom you will meet will be your own friends that have 
gone on before you, with whom, when here, you will be reunited 
for eternity. 







ANDREW ANDERSON. 



(380>4. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 161 

Andrew Anderson. 

380 j. At this seance Dr. E. J. Schellhous, an octogenarian, 
whose life-work has been for the most part that of school- 
teaching, is introduced to and becomes a regular member of 
this circle, and an attendant at all the seances henceforth to 
the close of this work. 

And for the reason that Andrew Anderson was the father 
of the mother of the Doctor; and for the farther reason that 
the above portrait of Andrew Anderson, the grandfather, is a 
very excellent likeness of the grandson, E. J. Schellhous; and 
for the still farther reason that Grandfather Anderson's de- 
scendants now in spirit life have contributed considerable of 
their personal experiences of practical life in the spirit world, 
for this volume — therefore the reader is here introduced to 
the grandfather's likeness, which was made later on by our 
Italian spirit artist. 

Denton, 

381. Beckoning toward Dr. Schellhous, said to him: 

(a) "Dear good friend, your work will do you good. 
Don't get disouraged. Try to get your information from us, 
and such as you do get thus you can rely upon. 

(&) "But how r do you know it is of spirits? By being fa- 
miliar with spirit return and communion and the probable 
soundness of their advice and your own relation to them. 

(c) "When some say: ( I have got a new idea' — by search- 
ing you will find he has nothing new. That what he has is old as 
the hills, and was known to spirits ages ago. 

(d) "Another says: 'I 've got a patent.' No, you have not. 
We gave it to you as common property in spirit life. 

(e) "Then, again, someone wants a basis of scientific Spir- 
itualism, but you will find that sometimes their science part is 
very limited. 

(f) "Turn to Nature and learn. You will find her a teacher 
of wisdom and one whose lessons are as easily read by yourself 
as by another. Indeed, this is the wisest teacher you can have. 
And you must learn to read for yourself. Another cannot read 
for you. She will take you back to the beginning and lead you 
in the light along the way. 

(fl) "Then some will say that it is impossible. But if it be 
possible for you to increase your families, it is i>ossible that the 
laws thereof may be read by you. And this great fact is being 
proven to your world every day of your life." 

Edmund Schellhous. 

382. Then another spirit came from the cabinet, beckoning 
toward Dr. Schellhous, aud said: "My name is Edmund." 

bv - 11 



162 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(a) And the Doctor at once recognized this spirit as his 
brother, long since in spirit life. 

(b) The spirit stepped a little nearer to the secretary, but, 
speaking 1 in good oral tones to be heard by all in the room, said : 

(a) "If you please, sir, my name is Edmund Sehellhous." 
Then, facing the circle, said: 

383. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am very happy to be here 
on this occasion, and am truly glad that I can in this way meet 
my brother, who I see is yet at his science. But I am permitted 
to speak upon condition that I relate some experience of mine 
since coming to spirit life. 

(a) "On this side I have met some such horrible conditions 
of spirits as to give the impress that places where such spirits 
are found are horrible j)laces, but being only conditions of sen- 
tient development, the conditions are susceptible of improve- 
ment by appropriate training. Many spirits think that all they 
should do is to simply get back to earth and advance by mere 
observation. It is quite an easy matter for some, but very diffi- 
cult for others to return. 

(b) "It was a long time before I returned, because I felt it 
my duty to learn as much as possible of the conditions of this 
life, so that I might tell those desiring to know concerning 
these things. 

(c) "Therefore I have become very much schooled while 
finding the conditions of spirit life as they have already been 
reported to you, and I am now prepared to open the windows 
of my own soul while teaching both spirits and mortals of the 
way of life and light." 

Sam on Materialization. 

384. Our clever Sam was in right jovial condition, and in 
conversation about materialization said that the forms are 
made up of certain emanations from the circle and from the 
atmosphere and from the medium and from spiritual elements 
brought in here; but that. the synthetic chemist on earth side 
of life who is able to utilize these things into a form that can 
deliver an oration has yet himself to be made. "And don't you 
forget dot now. Yeas, un hugh? donder and blixen! knock 'em 
all, hugh?" 

Seance No. 32. 

April 8, 1900. 

385. Circle same as last seance and also A. M. Cummins 
and wife. 

(a) Phenomena good, but, beause of entirely new ele- 
ments in the circle, very little matter was given for the book. 
ib) Denton, Paine, and Wesle} T all gave orations in most 



BEYOND TEE TAIL. J 63 

happy manner, but more for benefit of visitors than for the 
book. 

386. The artist, however, executed his best effort, so far, 
in the bust portrait of the Indian Red Feather (No. 17-|), Mrs. 
Aber's trance control. 

Zelda. 

387. A spirit lady, who says she is a teacher in spirit life 
and named Zelda, began a written narrative of her experiences 
as such teacher. This narrative the reader will find beginning 
at paragraph 1211. 

Thomas Paine, 

388. Standing diretly in front of Col. R. T. Van Horn and 
facing him, the cabinet being behind the spirit, and the spirit 
some thirty inches from the cabinet and about four feet from 
the Colonel, and in sight of all the circle, and clothed upon in 
apparel apparently of the pattern of clothing for men of the 
date of our Revolutionary fathers, then and there, in most elo- 
quent manner of voice and gesticulation, and in tones sufficient 
for an auditorium of five thousand people, said: 

(a) "There are many friends of our cause at work every- 
where; and now comes Prof. Hyslop, of the Anglo-American 
Psychic Research Society, declaring that society has, through 
a long series of scientific test conditions, demonstrated that 
clairvoyance is a fact not attributable to telepathy, mind- 
reading, or anything of the kind, and only solvable upon the 
basis of Spiritualism. 

(b) "Now, Prof. Hyslop may be satisfied as to the claims 
of Spiritualism for clairvoyance. 

(c) "Then, if he has any confidence in his own reason, he 
must also be satisfied as to the claims of Spiritualism for all 
other phases of its phenomena. 

(d) "If clairvoyance embraces a spirit-world inhabited by 
spirits occult to the normal vision, but susceptible of visibility 
to clairvoyant vision, it must be concluded that clairaudience 
and trance vocalization are likewise effects of decarnate spirit 
control of the auditory and lingual faculties or organs of the 
medium. 

3S9. "True scientists should have been convinced of clair- 
voyance a generation ago. 

(a) "The vast volumes of evidences given concerning clair- 
voyance and its concomitants ought to have satisfied every 
candid scientific man in the world, a whole generation ago, of 
the facts and conclusions now set up by Prof. Hyslop. 

(b) "I have been over there and watched those scientific 
proceedings and I find they are not half so scientific as the pro- 



164 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

ceedings here. Those scientific gentlemen over there cannot 
build, by any synthetic chemistry at their command, a human 
form with the characteristic individuality of Thomas, Paine, and 
stand that form before you or themselves in such elocutionary 
display as you behold at this moment, and to do the many other 
things that your research here has shown in the last dozen 
years. And yet those scientific gentlemen over there, and 
others, hoot at your ignorance — yea, it is doubtful whether they 
would listen one moment to a relation of what you know to be 
the truth. And why would they not listen? 

(c) " 'Because,' say they, 'my alma mater denies it, my 
preacher denies it, and because of my ignorance I cannot com- 
prehend it; therefore, you are a set of fools.' But the spirit 
world is a fact; it is at work; and by and by all shall know these 
things, even if we have to flood the world with books; and how- 
ever late the scientific world may be in finding out what mil- 
lions already know, we will all be glad to welcome them home 
into the truth and light at last." 

390. Here our inimitable Dutchman, Sam, in addition to 
what Paine said, spoke thus: 

"Yeas, doze scientiflicum fellows tink dot facts don't 
become facts until dey see into de whole business. Dey 
shtand oud in rain. You tell 'em it rains. Dey shay: 'No, it 
don't rain, cause I can't see where dis ting coom frum. Ef I got 
oop into de clouds so I can see where dot coom frum, den may 
pe it vill rain after dot. Nor I von't belief dot de grain of corn 
shprouds in der ground und cooms oop ef I don'dt shtick my 
nose in de dirt and see de shproudin' goin' on. Ef I don'dt see it 
in de light a-doin' its shproudin', it don'dt shproud, dot 's all; 
some hocus-pocus fellow puts dot corn-stalk dere, den he shay 
it shprouded und growed dere itself.' " 

So Sam would say: "Dere never vas a rainbow until some 
scientific fellow found oudt what made it." 

The Public Seance. 

April 10, 1900. 

391. This seance gave some rather marked phenomena 
and a little matter that may be utilized for the book, but the 
spirits have said that in compiling the book most personalities 
should be eliminated. 

Denton 

392. Said at this seance: 

(a) "Friends, the Doctor requested me to speak of Dr. 
Schellhous. 

(&) "We have discussed as to his influence and we are sat- 
isfied that he has brain emanations which we can use here for 
the benefit of all concerned in this work. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 165 

(c) "We therefore desire to have him remain here as 
long as possible and hope you will be able to provide some 
way to have him do so. And later on you will find the great 
good it will be to our undertaking, and we wish you to consider 
this matter. 

(d) "It may be of some interest to discuss the effect of 
storm} r weather upon our ability to manifest at the time. It 
has been demonstrated that stormy weather is not so favorable 
for successful production of phenomena. You now, however, 
observe that I am talking with about my usual ability of ut- 
terance, notwithstanding the extraordinary atmospheric dis- 
turbance without. You notice, also, that there is no stranger 
in the circle. 

(e) "But on other stormy nights, when you have had 
new parties in the seance, I could hardly speak audibly, and 
sometimes not at all. And the forms, if any, would be very 
dim. But to-night you see them nearly as clear as ever. 

(/) "Now, friends, weather conditions affect you and your 
physical organisms. But the weather does not affect us, neither 
if cold, hot, calm, or stormy. If you had one new element in here 
to-night, I could not talk, because of that new element not being 
assimilated inharmony with your magnetic conditions, and that, 
together with the effect of the storm upon you, would so dis- 
turb the emanations from you necessary for us to produce this 
class of phenomena that we could uot utilize the emanations 
to our purpose. On the other hand, you have become so as- 
similated to each other and to this work that we can nearly 
overcome the counter-tendencies of bad weather as to you, if 
there be no other counter-influences to overcome." 

393. The spirit Prof. Hare, assistant to the chemical de- 
partment, in full form to visibility, pronounced his name. 

Ethan Allen, 

394. In good conversational style, said: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. Excuse me for interrupting 
you at this time to the exclusion of some of your friends whom 
you would like to have in appearance and who are anxious, also, 
to return to your cognizance. 

(b) "But we are anxious to give what we can for the work, 
and as not much was given the last time, we want to keep the 
secretary at work. We cannot say how long a time it will take 
for us to finish the book, whether two months or six months 
or eight months. It is not necessary for us to hasten. We 
have to look about and choose the proper parties and themes. 
And, when we do get through, we hope to have our work well 
done; and that we shall have it to be something of great benefit 



166 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

as well as a work of endurance. And you will see here, if not 
there, the great benefits of it all to mankind. 

(c) "The good deeds of your earth lives are recorded here 
as well as in }<our own being, and just judgment rendered you, 
according to the evidence of the record, and made up in much 
the same way as a righteous judgment in your courts of earth." 

395. The artist made four very excellent small, pencil por- 
traits: one of John Skinner, one of E. S. Edwards, one of Pris- 
cilla Nixon, and one not recognized. 

396. E. V. Wilson recommended Dr. Schellhous to go 
right on with his literary work and let no one discourage him. 

397. The spirit Zechariah, brother to the secretary, joined 
with the circle in singing; and 

398. Wesley, brother to the medium, gave us some of his 
wonderful trumpet singing, elsewhere described. 



Seance No. S3. 
399. Col. Van Horn not present. 

Dr. Reed, 



April 12, 1900. 



400. The spirit control, spoke at some length touching their 
conduct of the work. He said: 

(a) "We have thoroughly discussed that whole matter and 
concluded the best shape in which to present our book would 
be, more short oral narratives and orations and not so much 
written narrative. Because in the oral form there could not 
be so much charge of plagiarism; and many could give orally 
who are not able to make a passable writing. 

(6) "The other book has in it all the scientific value there 
is or can be to this writing phase, but to relieve the secretary 
some more written narratives will be sdven later on." 



& j 



Emanuel Swedenborg. 

401. A materialization which we did not recognize at first 
stood near to the secretary and began to speak in broken Eng- 
lish and indistinctly, but after a few words got to fairly good 
oral English, and about the middle of his discourse he lost con- 
trol of his form and went back into the cabinet, but in about 
one minute returned speaking good, clear distinct English, be- 
ginning at the words: 

(a) "I wrote several books," and his whole speech is this, 
to-wit: 

{b) "I am new to this circle in this way, but I hope to be 
favorably received. 



BEYOND TEE VAIL. 167 

(c) "Friends, I call you friends because I feel that you are 
indeed friends to this truth and its promulgators. 

(d) "It is many years, as you count duration, since I passed 
from the earth life to spirit life, and during the interim to this 
period I have had many and varied experiences. 

(e) "In your world I was a preacher of some influence 
among the people. I was earnest and thought I was right, and 
many people were persuaded into my way. 

The Strange Influence Thought to Be the Devil. 

402. (a) "By and by there came into our house an influ- 
ence that completely changed us, and I met him when I came 
over here, and I asked him why he lingered about us so much 
and so long. 

(b) "And he said he wished to let me know of this world 
and of his existence in it, and to try to have me modify my 
views and teachings to be more in accord with eternal truth." 
Here the spirit fails, but returns, saying: "I wrote several 
books and some of them based upon this strange influence, 
which I thought to be the devil. 

(c) "And this influence, mixed with my theology, gave to 
me my hells, my heavens, my devils and angels. 

id) "Of course my first effort here was to find my heavens 
and hells and demons and the devil himself. But, in all this 
long period since I have been in spirit, I have never met any 
such being or beings, and of course no habitation of corre- 
spondence for such. 

(e) "And since I found out all of„m t y errors, I have tried 
to reach your world with the results of my experiences here, 
but so far have failed utterly, excepting in part, very recently. 

Meets Many in Both Light and Dark Conditions. 

403. (a) "I have met many in darkness and some in dark- 
ness because of my teaching, and I took on more conditions of 
darkness and recovered more slowly than I ought. 

(b) "I was so determined in my way on earth that I was 
not very progressive, and that disposition followed me to this 
side, requiring long time to modify, so that I could scarcely 
get on at all over here. But they say my time is up for the 
present, and hoping to meet you again in this way, I go now. 
Good-night." 

Henry Ward Beecher. 

404. When Swedenborg had gone, straightway there stood 
in his stead one who, so soon as he began to speak, the circle 
recognized to be Henry Ward Beecher. This spirit said: 



108 BEYOND TEE VAIL. 

(a) "Friends, I have heard you people mention my name 
several times recently, and it is concluded to give me a little 
time this evening to speak to you, if 1 have learned to hold this 
form while I do so. 

Was a Preacher , but Later a Spiritualist. 

405. (a) "I was a preacher and was heralded as a 
preacher of righteousness, and therefore many listened to me 
and were persuaded into my way. 

(b) "But before I passed to this side I became a Spiritual- 
ist and began to find how great was the mistake of my theology, 
and to modify some of my early teaching as much as it seemed 
my people would bear. 

(c) "When I got over here, I found that my works did 
follow me and my condition was somewhat darkened because 
of my erroneous theological instructions to my confidential 
hearers. 

(d) "But, being of very progressive nature, I soon learned 
my way out. And working along that way, I have visited many 
both dark and bright conditions, and met many in both to 
whom I had preached, and some were in darkness because of my 
preaching. 

(e) "I was an ardent lover and admirer of children, and 
when — I — see — the — little — ones — " Here the spirit seemed 
to break down with grief and the form slowly faded or dis- 
solved away. 

Robert 67. Ingersoll. 

406. When Beecher had entirely returned to the invisible 
condition, a form came from the cabinet to where Beecher had 
stood to view of the circle, and, after deliberately scanning the 
circle, began speaking in a very careful, deliberate, and rhetor- 
ical manner, saying: 

(a) "This is not so large an audience as I have spoken to, 
but sometimes a small audience comprehends better than a 
large one. 

(b) "During my short stay in this beautiful country, I have 
met a great many who had reached this fair land before I came, 
and some who came since my arrival. 

(c) "As beautiful as this glorious world is, it is darkness 
and gloom to those whose spiritual discernment is but rudi- 
mental. The blind man beholds not the glorious sunshine, nor 
do deaf ears hear the enchanting music of aerial songsters. 
Catarrhal olfactories do not discern the sweet aromas of gar- 
dens of June roses. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 169 

The Hell Predicted Not Found. 

407. (a) "Many of those whom I have met predicted a hell 
and frowns of an offended God for me. 

(o) "But, although I have made a search, somewhat ex- 
haustive, I fail, so far, to find either. And many who had a hell 
fixed up for me are themselves in darker conditions than I ever 
experienced." 

408. Takes up Beecher's lamentation for the children. 
(405 e.) 

\a) "I, too, have great love for children. Your children 
should he taught MORALS by EXAMPLE as well as by precept. 

(b) "Do right yourselves and soon your children will be 
better. 

(c) "And when your country and your world become civil- 
ized, vour children will have better conditions in which to grow 
better." 

John W. Draper. 

409. A spirit following Ingersoll said: "My name is John 
W. Draper. 

(a) "I was author of several books. The Dr. Schellhous 
of your circle, I see, has read some of my books." Schellhous: 
"Yes, Mr. Draper, and T much admire what I have read of your 
works." 

{o) Spirit: "My books contain mauy errors, but that I 
cannot help now. I cannot change it either. My 'Conflict of 
Science and Religion' is perhaps the best effort of my life. 
That book is mostly quite right. 

(c) "Many people supposed I might go to hell — but I have 
not gone there yet. In fact, I never intended to go there, any 
way. 

(d) "I want to say now that none of the religions are 
scientific. They are not on a scientific ground or plane. 

(e) "The religious devotee is not taught to read and reason. 
He is taught that reason is an instrument of the devil to cap- 
ture human victims, instead of being, as it is, that flower of the 
human soul whose fruit is knowledge, light, and liberty." 

Johnny Wathins. 

410. A spirit said: "I am Johnny Wat kins. I passed to 
spirit life when but a small child and have been raised up in 
spirit life to the condition of manhood." 

Andrew Jackson. 

411. And now one stands to view of the circle, looking 
somewhat familiar: "Seems to me I ought to know that per- 



170 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

son." Another of the circle: "I believe I have seen his pict- 
ure." Then some other: "He looks like the portrait of An- 
drew Jackson." Several voices: "That 's it; that 's who it is." 

Old Hickory. 

412. Spirit: "Yes, my friends, this is 'Old Hickory.' ' ; And 
the form returning into the cabinet met another, very different 
in appearance. 

Von Humboldt. 

413. /The voice of Sam in the cabinet: "See the great 
Baron Von Humboldt." And the spirit, bowing assent, re- 
turned into the cabinet. 

Captain Cook. 

414. One claiming to be Captain Cook said: "I have been 
many years in spirit life." Then, not being able to hold his form, 
passed into invisible condition. 

Frank Wilbrink. 

415. Another spirit in the visible condition stood a moment, 
saying: "My name is Frank Wilbrink. It took me a long time to 
reconcile myself to the conditions of this life, but I am clear and 
all right now." 

Annie. 

416. A spirit in the similitude of a young woman in gar- 
ments of purest white said: "My name is Annie. I have been in 
spirit life considerable time. I am very intimate with Frankie, 
the daughter of the Dr. Schellhous there. 

(a) "Oh, how delighted I am with this privilege of one 
word, in this way, to the world! But neither my feeble mind nor 
any, however brilliant, can fully portray to you the glories of 
this beautiful world of spirit. 

417. "Frankie has led me along the way over wide-spread- 
ing plains dotted all over with beautiful places and inhabited by 
most happy people, where are parks and drives and crystal 
streams and fountains and birds and songs and flowers, coun- 
terparts of the most glorious of such objects of the earth plane, 

(a) "And away beyond and skirting these delightful plains 
were beautiful hills gradually rising, one above the other, and 
Frankie led me far away from all contaminating influences, 
where were the homes of myriads of happy children in a gor- 
geously picturesque country of green hills and sunny slopes and 
shady bowers and glorious buildings and rippling streams and 
the sweet songs of birds of every plumage. 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 171 

418. "And the happy, happy children in charge of still 
more happy, competent tutors. Oh, kind friends, this beau- 
tiful world! this glorious world! The pulsating songs of 
these vast legions of ineffably happy children as their glad an- 
thems go out in reverberation among those beautiful hills and 
homes, and traverse the musical streams of the glorious val- 
leys there. 

(a) "And these happy children looking away toward eter- 
nal mountains of endless glory for them! And I am back here 
to tell you of that glorious beyond, to help you and to help 
myself to ultimately attain to the sweet felicity of those in- 
nocent children among those beautiful hills and the towering 
mountains of light in that far-away beyond ! My form is giving 
way and I must go." 

Frankie. 

419. And when Annie had gone, Frankie stood before us 
again in most exultant delight, corroborating what Annie had 
said, as though to tell her father that this glorious condition 
that Annie has described is the field of work of Frankie in the 
spirit world, and Frankie tells to her father more, saying: 

(a) "I have met uncle and mother and all of our family 
over here, and we see my father approaching, and soon w T e shall 
all be reunited, traveling on toward those plains and hills and 
mountains of eternal delight about wlych Annie has just been 
telling you." 

Maggie Stone. 

420. And now comes another woman spirit, saying: "I am 
Maggie Stone. I lived in Michigan. My husband was an engi- 
neer." But the spirit could not hold its form, and it instantly 
became invisible. 

Captain Miller. 

421. And suddenly there stood the form of a man, say- 
ing: "I am Captain Miller. I was blown up on my own tug. I 
was acquainted with this medium when he was very young, and 
his brother and mother. T could not take my money with me." 

Widler. 

422. Another said: "My name is Widler. I was a Spirit- 
ualist. I lived at Topeka," 

423. Zelda continued her .written narrative. (1213.) 

Seance No. 34. 

April 15, 1900. 

424. The ordinary preliminary being accomplished, 



172 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Reed 
was presented to visibility a moment, saluting and greeting, 
and withdrew, and 

Denton 

425. Opened the programme, saying: 

(a) "Friends, I am glad to be here, although atmospheric 
conditions and a little break in the circle are unfavorable; but 
we shall do the best we can. 

(b) "While we desire to compliment the faithful ones here, 
the others have their minds and thoughts here while condi- 
tions prevent their bodily presence/'' 

Wesley Aber. 

426. "I, too, am glad to be here. Do you remember when 
we told you that the time would come when an invention to 
resuscitate life would be made in the near future? 

(a) "Well, my brother and I were reading that such is 
now being done. 

(&) "We made several other prophecies which are now ac- 
complished facts. 

(c) "Many people suppose that spirits ought to know all 
things and be able to foretell all things. 

(d) "Your world, in its ignorance, will not try to know 
anything but devils and gods. They will not listen to the fact 
of human spirits — only human, nothing more, nothing less. 

(e) But, friends, we are only human, and can only proph- 
esy for mortals according to the tendencies we discern in their 
relative conditions. N 

(/) "As spirits we are able to more clearly penetrate such 
conditions and rationally trace causes to their ultimate effect 
than while in the mortal. 

(g) "We learn faster and can see farther, but we are 
nearly as liable to err as when in the mortal, except as in- 
creased facilities of learning and perception increase our 
ability to reach correct conclusions. 

Easter Sunday — Resurrection. 

427. "But this, you say, is Easter Sunday. A festal day 
in commemoration of some one's rising from the ground in 
prophecy of a supposed rising of all people from the ground. 

{a) "Friends, we do not rise from the ground, nor have we 
been there since we left our mortal bodies and quit gold-hunt- 
ing. We are no more in the ground than you, nor have our 
home there, but above ground. 

(o) "We travel about very much the same as you do. We 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 173 

come here — we visit localities all very much as you do, except 
that our mode of transit is almost infinitely more rapid than 
yours. 

Prophecy. 

428. (a) "Friends, you are in a world of progression. 
You see only to a limited degree what will take place. 

(b) "We are in a world of much more rapid progression, 
and can therefore see much more than you see of what will 
take place. 

(c) "There are changes in spirit life out of dark conditions 
into better and brighter ones, and it is our privilege to make 
ourselves familiar with all conditions and their causes, and 
learn of all means of amelioration. 

(d) "When you come over here, I will try to take you to 
conditions and places that will be instructive to you and show 
you of our work here. 

Spirit Philanthropy. 

429. (a) "A short time ago I met one who was in a most 
pitiable and forlorn condition because of the environments of 
his earth life; but within his own self he was in a condition to 
receive what I would give to him, but was not able to readily 
understand me. 

(b) "As it sometimes is with mortals, one spirit may not 
readily understand the meaning of what another says at first, 
but by and by, after continued conversations, the meaning is 
grasped and reciprocal understanding is the consequence. 

(c) "So I labored with this unfortunate one until I finally 
brought him out of his darkness into a progressive reforma- 
tion that leads him right on to the light." 

430. Now comes the artist manifesting great glee, jab- 
bering in broken English about his work. He finds the box 
that contains the sketch paper locked and the key out, and asks 
the Doctor to open the box for him. The Doctor comes out of the 
cabinet, opens the box, retires, and the artist, saying, "Thankee, 
Doctor, thankee," takes a sheet of the paper from the box, 
exhibits the same to the circle and especially to Dr. Schellhous, 
then places the paper back in the box, closes the lid down, has 
Dr. Schellhous go to the arena table and place his hands upon the 
lid of the box, and to see that the artist passed both of his 
hands about over the box lid, but near to it, during some one 
minute. Then the spirit raised the lid and had the Doctor look 
in and see the portrait picture already drawn. Then the artist 
took the paper out of the box and passed it to the secretary, say- 
ing: "Here, Mr. Man, nieee picture. Frankie [431], Doctor's 



174 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 



daughter, nicee." And the Doctor, at sight of the picture, was 
overcome at the astounding accuracy of the identity. 




FRANKIE SCHELLHOUS. 



431. And while the portrait was in process of making, 

Denton 

432. Came out of the cabinet at the southeast corner and 
said: 

(a) "Friends, you often wonder why we do not give more 
writing? Did you ever consider that the artist takes up most of 
the elements required for writing? If we give you more writing, 
we must give you fewer portraits. Which would you rather? We 
are giving you orations, some writing, and good portraits, but, 
if you think best, we can give you writing and no portraits." 

Circle: "Go ahead as vou are doin^r' 



BEYOND TEE TAIL. 175 

The Spirit Annie Schellhous. 

433. In most brilliantly white apparel, slowly emerged 
from the cabinet and toward the secretary to about three feet 
distant from him, and thus spoke: "Sir, my name is Annie 
Schellhous, sister-in-law to Dr. Schellhous over there. 

(a) "I am not Frankie's pupil, only that Frankie led me 
over that country of the spirit world that I told you about, and, 
of course, so far as I learned from that delightful journey, I am 
indebted to Frankie — but Frankie is indeed a noble teacher." 

Frankie. 

434. As Annie passed into the cabinet, Frankie passed out 
of the cabinet to where Annie stood to make her address to 
the secretary, and circle- as well, and said: 

(a) "Yes, I am a teacher and escort in spirit life, thus: 
Some time ago there was born into your world a child whom 
we name Florence. 

434^. "Some time before Florence had learned to know 
them, the father and mother passed to spirit life; and later the 
little one also came over here and fell into my charge, and I 
bore the little one away to one of the juvenile schools, and after 
a while it became best that this little one should know of and 
meet its earthly parents, and I made diligent search for them 
without avail, and I met the good Dr. Reed in there, and told 
him of my case in charge, and he told me to get the Dutchman 
Samuel interested, and very likely he could make a successful 
search. And so soon as I informed Sam, he was eager for the 
undertaking, and he soon found the child's parents. How he 
did it I do not know, but we brought father, mother, and child 
together over here, and all are glad. 

"And my dear papa, over there, would not be here in this 
glorious privilege to him had we not managed that he might 
have a little foretaste of this beautiful country, to which he soon 
will be more fully initiated." 

Dr. Schellhous Says: 

435. "The statement of Annie is in perfect accordance with 
the character of my daughter Frankie, who passed to spirit 
life in her fifteenth year, in 1864. Mentally, at that age, she 
was advanced — always active, cheerful, and affectionate. She 
was fond of music and a skillful pianist. And, among other 
children, she always took a leading part in their play. Her 
character and disposition clearly indicated an inclination for 
teaching. E. J. Schellhous." 



176 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

Seance No. 35. 

April 19, 1900. 

436. At this seance was one Philip Nadig, of Allentown, 
Penn., who says that he never witnessed any of the physical phe- 
nomena before this, and this seance, to us, was almost a failure 
— at least so far as giving matter for the book is concerned. 

The controls have, time and again, told us not to admit to 
these seances entirely new elements, but to have such pass 
some experience in seances set apart for that purpose before 
being admitted to these. But it seems we can never learn that 
the controls know better than we. So we can only take our 
medicine and be content if it is a little nauseating. 

Seance No. 36. 

April 21, 1900. 
436J. Mrs. Steward, who had been absent for several meet- 
ings, and Mrs. Cook, who had not been present for several weeks, 
and Mr. Nadig, the visitor from Pennsylvania, were present with 
the regular attendants. This made rather unfavorable con- 
ditions; nevertheless the seance was a fair success. 

437. The spirit Prof. Wm. Dentou, in his usual strong 
vocalization manner, said : 

(a) "Friends, I am glad to meet you again. I hope you will 
excuse our feeble efforts the other evening. We are much like 
you. Sometimes, when bodily machinery is all intact and the 
nervo-vital elements and forces are in good healthful conditions, 
you feel buoyant and delighted in pursuing your work right 
along. 

(&) But when the free exercise of such elements and 
forces is in any wav obstructed, you feel dull, languid, work 
slowly, or, it may be, work not at all. 

(c) "So it is with us. When the elements and emanations 
necessary for our work flow into us freely, we can give lively 
expressiveness to our phenomena. 

(d) "But disturbance of vital force emanations to our use 
compels failure or feeble results on our part. 

438. "You were discussing the theological agitation of the 
religious convocations. Friends, it is needless for you to waste 
your time discussing orthodox religion. You can learn nothing 
by it. It will do you no good. Let them alone and watch, and 
you will soon learn that they are very rapidly going; to decay. If 
let alone to themselves, you will soon begin to seem them ready 
to tumble; and when they do fall, they will fall hard." 

Thomas Paine, 

439. That most amazing and astounding vocalizer, speak- 
ing in his highest vocal key for the benefit of our visitor, Mr. 
Nadig, whose hearing is a little defetive, said: 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 177 

(a) "Well, my friends, I 'm here again, and am exceedingly 
glad of it. My friend, Mr. Nadig, it may seem strange to you 
that a spirit can find conditions by which he may stand again 
and talk to his friends of earth, as you see and hear me now. We 
have been many years at trying to reach this conclusion, and 
now you are permitted to witness this wonderfully accomplished 
fact. 

(&) "Friends, can you find a religion in your world that can 
present you with one fact that in itself opens so widely the gates 
and lets you see beyond the tomb, and through the gloom of the 
dark valley your long supposed dead friends standing yet alive 
in immortal glory? 

■(c) "Here you see with your own eyes and hear with your 
own ears endless conscious existence for the human race scien- 
tifically demonstrated to be a fact! Which fact the whole hu- 
man race and all of its religions have been seeking to know. 

(d) "Here is a consolation for the sorrowing ones of bereft 
homes that all the religions besides this, of your world, are 
unable to give. Here the mourning mother, at the grave of 
the little one, can find a sweet peace. 

Conducted a Little Child Spirit to Its Appropriate School. 

440. (a) "I once met one of those little ones soon after it 
arrived here, who did not know of this sublime world. I took 
her glad little hand in mine and told her all about it, so far as 
she was able to comprehend, and led her on, showing her the 
beauties by the way. 

(b) "Oh, how delighted was this innocent little spirit! Did 
you ever listen to the carolings of 1he feathered songsters in 
the sweet springtime, when the orchards are in bloom? So 
spake the gratitude of this little girl spirit as I placed her in one 
of our glorious schools over here, where she grew up to useful 
and beautiful womanhood, thence as enduring as the eternal 
spheres." (R. V., 2184.) 

Thomas Jenkinson, 

441. Father to Mrs. House, made his identity known to her. 

Stella. 

442. Following the spirit Jenkinson came a form in the 
similitude of a young woman in garments white and glistening, 
and standing near to the secretary, but facing the circle, speak- 
ing in a whisper, gave out as some of her experience the 
following: 

(a) "My name is Stella. I came to the spirit world, or, 
bv — 12 



178 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

rather, to the excarnate condition of it, when a young woman. 
In the earth life I was what is there called a Christian. I was 
sincere and tried to be devout; and did live as nearly as I could 
to what 1 was taught to be the duties of a true Christian: to 
worship the adorable Trinity as the creed taught it; and, of 
course, in the funeral sermon it was declared that 'God in His 
infinite mercy and wisdom had taken to Himself, into His high- 
est heaven, one dutiful Christian girl, having redeemed and 
saved her by the blood of His only begotten Son, Who was slain 
for her.' 

'(&) "Of course I expected my Kedeemer to meet me and con- 
duct me to His Father's glittering golden throne, but in all these 
years I have not found that heaven, nor that golden throne, nor 
that God who sitteth thereon, nor His only begotten Son at His 
right hand, nor any one wearing that crown of thorns, nor Him 
who is judge of the quick and the dead; for all of those things I 
hunted and made diligent inquiry, but found them not. 

Theological Idolatry. 

443. . "Was my whole religious life on earth a stupendous 
mythological idolatry? Surely it was, I began to conclude. 

(a) "But at last, after a long fruitless search, I found 
friends, or, rather, they found me in this dark and forlorn con- 
dition; and I knew some of them, and they looked so bright and 
so happy! And they told me that the wisest spirits they had 
ever met in the spirit world had never found that Savior, nor 
that God, nor that heaven — but they had found conditions infi- 
nitely more glorious and beautiful, in which human beings were 
enjoying happiness and* sweet peace of soul that: neither pen 
nor tongue of mortals or immortals could fully portray to hu- 
man comprehension. 

(b) "Although my progress out of the conditions in which 
my religion placed me was slow, I am triumphantly above it 
now, and the condition to which I have advanced is indicated 
by my name, and I have spoken for thousands who came up 
into this glorious light, out of and through the same conditions 
I have hinted at to yon. 

(c) "And now, in the hope that what I have been permitted 
to hint to you may reach many people of your world and do them 
good, and that I may again be permitted to say a word to 
you, by and by, concerning this delightful home of ours, by 
which someone will avoid the long struggle I had in order to 
reach it, I bid you, my dear friends of earth, good-night." 

444. Following Stella came forth one of the form of a 
man. This spirit was clearly enough discerned by the circle that 
his countenance was bright, that he wore a dark mustache, 
goatee, and some extremely white cloth on and over his head 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 179 

down to the shoulders, forming rather a high but somewhat 
exquisitely beautiful coronal. This spirit delivered to us quite 
an extended lecture in, to us, some unknown tongue, and re- 
turned into the abinet. 

445. And immediately the artist is at the arena table and 
makes a portrait under conditions equivalent to the best test 
conditions of such work as heretofore reported, and the portrait 
much resembles the form that just stood before the circle, 
speaking an unknown tongue. (480.) 

William Ellery Charming. 

446. One came out of the southeast corner of the cabinet, 
saying: 

"I am glad of this opportunity to introduce myself to you. 
I am William Ellery Channing, whose works the good brother 
Dr. Schellhous has been reading and admiring. 

(a) "And now, Brother Schellhous, you behold the gentle- 
man in this form, though never did you see me while in the mor- 
tal form. And to the others of your friends in this good work 
here I would say that I hope to call this way again and make 
farther report of my career in the spirit world. Good-night." 
And immediately the spirit was gone away from our sight. 

Elias 8. Edwards, 

447. Who was one of this circle at the beginning of the 
work "Rending the Vail," but since has passed to spirit life, 
now in materialized form, quite well made up, put in his appear- 
ance, so completely realistic of his personality as to almost 
astonish those of the circle most used to this phenomenal phase. 

Dr. J. R. Buchanan 

448. Stood forth, talking quite clearly, and, addressing 
himself to Dr. Schellhous, said: 

(a) "How are you, Doctor? You remember we met in Cin- 
cinnati more than fifty years ago? And then again I saw you 
in California when you were there." 

(5) Then Dr. Schellhous expressed his full, complete, and 
satisfactory recognition of the identity. Then the spirit said: 

(c) "A great work is being done here, that the world as 
yet dreams not of; and you, my friends, ought to get as good 
material as possible for conditions, and keep out of all wrangling 
yourselves, and such a work as you hardly dare dream of now 
will come out of this unparalleled effort being put forth at this 
place; and we can but desire that the greatest possible success 
be the result of your patience." 

Zelda 

449. Comes forth to the writing-desk and continues her 
written narrative, to be found at paragraph 1213. 



180 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Seance No. 86. 

April 26, 1900. 

450. Mrs. Steward, Mrs. Cook, and Mrs. House absent. Dr. 
Schellhous a permanent member. Mrs. Mary E. Wallace, of 
Paola, Kansas, visitor. Mr. Nadig present for the last seance of 
this visit. How it is that, with our continually changing con- 
ditions and elements, anything can be given for the book, and 
yet considerable of value given, is in itself a great marvel. 

Dr. Reed. 

(a) "Friends, I feel sorrowful at having our friend Philip 
Nadig leave us at this time, but I hope for his early return." 

The Miner. (321.) 

451. The one we know as the Miner, who several weeks 
ago came into these seances as inexperienced as a newborn 
babe, now greets the circle with ability to talk quite freely, 
and to express his gratitude for having been rescued from dark 
conditions, and for his rapid progress into the light, for his re- 
turning memory and rational consciousness. 

(a) He now remembers his name to be Rogers, but does 
not remember his given name: says he guesses he had no given 
name — none but just plain Rogers; has not found his comrade 
Jack. 

(o) We did not, at first appearance of this spirit, just under- 
stand why the controls brought him in, but we can now discern 
it as a lesson to us, illustrative of immediate post-mortem con- 
ditions, of sudden transitions from the mortal, and gradual 
awakening of such spirit. N 

452. A spirit announced his name as John Scott, but was 
not recognized. 

Denlon, 

458. In his usually happy manner, said: 

(a) "Friends, I suppose it may be of benefit to your world 
that I say something of effect of earth life and habits upon the 
individual in what we call the spirit world, and as may be con- 
cluded from individual experiences already given. 

(6) "And, first, I would say: You mortals who believe in 
Spiritualism cannot avoid your duty there and escape Ihe con- 
sequences here any better, nor hardly so- well as some more 
ignorant than you. Yon, of all people, should keep your souls 
growing by extending helpful conditions to all humanity ac- 
cording to their greatest needs. All people, everywhere, should 
be held as requiring your aid, your sympathy — not idle words 
of pity, but active, efficacious work. And, remember, you cannot 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 181 

do this to jour own advantage while you have any lurking malice 
in your nature. 

(c) "To get rid of your malicious lurkings, let your continual 
efforts be to hold no enmity toward any of the human race; for 
if you have and cherish enmity on earth and do not have it over- 
come before you get here, you will find that condition of your 
nature to be a most darkening condition to you on this side. 

(d) "Go forth then, dear friends, and try to make men and 
women better by better lives yourselves, more kindly deeds and 
pleasanter words. 

454. "War in its every phase is the reverse of all this. 

War Is Absolutely Unnecessary. 
It is antagonistic to spiritual growth everywhere. Therefore, 
make no war nor war conditions. 

(a) "We have no war here. You will find when you attain 
to us that the war elements are gone. And you cannot reach 
us until you are above them. 

(b) "But in the lower conditions of spirit life you will find 
what seems like war — what seems like fighting. Yet, even that, 
though not desirable, is above the warring elements of earth. 
At the worst in lower conditions, on this side, it is only con- 
tentions and reflections of earth and low carnal conditions. And 
it has been my good pleasure to rescue mauy unfortunates 
from the darkness of such war-shadows and contentious wran- 
gling conditions and bring them into the light. 

"We Have No Idiots Nor Insane Over Here. 

455. "Such of your earth plane reach spirit life in the gen- 
eral condition of childhood, and are taken in charge of special 
teachers for such and educated for the purpose of helping and 
elevating man. 

Drones. 

456. (a) "You have a great many people who are indolent; 
who do not seem to desire attainment to any thing, any way; 
who do nothing whatever, but simply exist, and that very 
scantily, or, by some coincidence, upon the exertions of some- 
body else. These drones of earth are just as idle over here, but 
they are nowhere happy. 

"The Busy, the Industrious Are the Happy Ones, 
(b) "But their happiness is exalted in proportion to the 
exalted aims and tendencies of their industry. 

"We Find but Little Use for Mathematics. 

457. "Efficacious learning here is that which prepares to 
help man to grow in manhood, womanhood, humanitarianism, 
and general spirituality. Along these lines try to learn all 



182 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

you can and conform your lives and habits therewith; for your 
active well or ill spent lives on earth determine for you a higher 
or lower classification accordingly over here." 

Lillie Morgan. 

458. A spirit having the appearance of a young woman in 
clothing and drapery of brilliantly white material stood before 
and in full view of the circle, speaking in a whisper, as all the 
female forms have done so far, saying: 

(a) "My name was Lillie Morgan. I was a theatrical dram- 
atist and considered something of a star as an actress. Being a 
favorite, I became dissipated; though to a limited extent. 

(6) "One whose nature fits her for successful drama, being 
more or less a sensitive, with rare exceptions, is led to debasing 
habits. While my career was so under my own control as to 
prevent any but general favorable comment, yet, when long 
years ago I came to the spirit world, 

I Found I Was in Darkness. 

I had so many regrets. I desired to hide myself away in 
greater darkness. I had been of but little use to the people 
of earth. I had left nothing there for their benefit, not even 
an example that could be at all recommended or approved by my 
own conscience. 

(c) "The seeds of my better nature had not been allowed 
to germinate. I had excited and increased human passions and 
desires, and stifled their spiritual natures. Oh, 

The Inevitable Retrospection ! 

The darkness of the terrible retrospection! Worse s than mid- 
night gloom of a banishment to some lone isle of midocean ! 

(d) "But by and by a quiet came over me. Tender voices 
in the distance seemed to be calling me. I listened in amazement 
as the voices approached, and nearer they would come, until at 
last one in light came to me and offered to show me a beaufiful 
country and people. I told her I was unworthy; but she said 
there was too much good that I might grow to that should 
be no longer wasted, and she gave me encouragement, and 
showed me a little of the way out; and from time to time others 
were sent to me to help me along, until at last, after a long up- 
hill struggle, I have reached the light, and oh, how thankful I 
am to the bright ones who led me out ! 

(e) "I have long wanted some way to caution those, my 
sisters of earth, to ever bear in mind that that world is a stage 
upon which they are acting the great prelude to dark or bright 
conditions of a second play upon the stage of the great spirit 
world beyond. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



183 



(/) "How glad and thankful I am to these good controls 
here and you faithful ones yet of earth for this to me happy 
privilege of a word back to the actresses upon the great morning 
stage of life, that they may the more successfully play for a 
fitting transition to the glories that should meet them on reach- 
ing these beautiful shores. Good-night." 

Mrs. McGuire, 

459. Late of Fort Worth, Texas, and an acquaintance of the 
medium before her transition, made up quite brilliantly, an- 
nounced her name and residence when in the mortal, and said 
her husband is an engineer, that she was a Spiritualist, which 
was of much value to her in spirit life, and that frequently she 
is able to be about her husband. 




YUSHIN, AN ARABIAN. 



Yushin, an Arabian. 
460. A personage having on a long robe of white, striped 
perpendicularly with dark drab or black, but the stripes might 



184 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

have appeared purple if seen in daylight. This form spoke in 
some unknown tongue. It is possible this was an Arabian, to be 
more fully recognized later ou ; for the artist executed a portrait 
straightway, much to resemble this form and also resembling 
the Arabian people of caste, so far as the circle is able to judge. 

461. Then another form talked some Spanish so that Dr. 
Schellhous could hear him. And the Doctor, having spent some 
years in Mexico, understood some of the words as Mexican 
Spanish. 

462. Some one, made up especially for Mr. Nadig, talked 
to him in German, which Mr. Xadig, being of German descent, 
understood. 

Uncle Johnny Beeson. 

463. First appearance since his transition of Uncle Johnny 
Beeson. He talked a little, but very feebly, mostly to the effect 
that he was glad to be able, in this way, to renew acquaintance 
with Mr. House. Uncle Johnny Beeson was a long time citizen 
and merchant of this village; was very intelligent in religous 
matters; was agnostic, almost atheistic, but was universally 
respected. At a ripe old age some brain trouble set in, causing 
dementia, and he passed to the beyond some three years ago. 
We shall expect him to be at these seances later on, much more 
able to converse than at this first effort. 

464. After Uncle Johnny had been fully recognized by all 
the circle who had known him in the mortal, and gone away, 
Sam and Mr. Nadig exchanged some German conversation and 
the seance closed. 

Seance No. 37. 

April 29, 1900. 

465. Five of the regular circle present. Mr. House and 
wife absent. Mrs. Steward and Mr. Barber present, and Mrs, 
James Wallace, as visitors. 

(a) Here is almost a complete change of elements in the 
circle and of course results up to the standard could not be ex- 
pected. Nevertheless, phenomena were quite oood, but display 
of intellectual matter for the book was rather limited. 

(b) The reader may wish to know why some pains are taken 
to notice the different changes as to the persons sitting in the 
seances. We answer: Because that, given a genuine and 
honest medium with an honest and able band of guides and 
controls, there is yet requisite honesty and sincerity of the 
circle and harmonious assimilation of the magnetic emanations 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 185 

of all the members of the circle, each to all the others, and 
the whole to that of the spirit chemists, according to the work 
the j have in hand; and the psychic student desires to know as 
much of the effect of circle conditions upon phenomena as pos- 
sible, and he can best learn this from citation and observation 
of facts. 

Denton, 

466. Opening this seance, observed that some in the circle 
were not feeling well, and said : 

{a) "You should know by this time that you cannot break 
or violate the laws of your physical well being without suffering 
the natural penalty. That suffering is your sickness. 

(&) "You- know, too, that you cannot live always in the 
physical form; but you should strive to stay in the earth life 
the full time of allotment unto you. 

(c) "We have no need for you and do not want you over 
here until your work of earth is done. When your work is all 
done, however, and you come over here in the fullness of the 
completion of your earthly mission, then we can the more gladly 
welcome you, and show you our country, our people, our 
schools, our churches and your friends and relatives, and in- 
troduce you to the glorious delights of this side of life." 

John Buskin 

467. Introduced himself and said: 

(a) "Friends, good-evening. I am pleased at being thus 
privileged. This is not my first visit and I hope it will not be my 
last. I cannot say much to you at this time. 

(jb) "I knew some of this great philosophy. I knew I was 
aided in my work, and the little light of Spiritualism that I did 
have has been of great service to me since in this life. Had I 
known more of it, as I should, it would have been a great bless- 
ing to me. I could have reached my people of earth much easier, 
and better, and would have been in a great deal more happy 
condition immediately after coming here." 

468. General R. E. Lee and J. R. Buchanan, each in good 
form, announced his name. 

469. The spirit James Wallace made his identity known 
to his widow so that she clearly recognized him. 

Thomas Paine, 

470. On "Reincarnation," said: 

(a) "There are peculiar ideas advancing in your world." 
The spirit, not being able to hold his form, went back into 



186 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

the cabinet for better make-up, and in a moment returned and 
resumed his speech thus : 

(&) "Undoubtedly you have heard of reincarnation. We 
do not recognize it. It seems to us an impossibility, as you 
understand it and as it is usually taught by reihcarnationists. 
We do, however, recognize that dropping the outward, earthly 
body and taking upon us the active use of the spiritual is to all 
purposes a reincarnation." 

The spirit again had to return into the cabinet to replenish 
his form, especially the larynx. We generally say of this: 
"The spirit lias gone, or did go, or had to go back for more 
strength." But some of the circle had a little extra feeling of 
amusement, and when the spirit returned and began to state 
his reasons for thinking the general theory of reincarnation 
incorrect, saying, 

(c) "In all my experience I never met a spirit who wished 
himself back in the physical," someone of the circle in mirthful 
mood said right out: "Well, I have, sir." 

The spirit made an effort to recover from the effect of this 
shock of contradiction upon his form, to explain himself, but the 
mirthful parties got more mirthful and the spirit retreated. 
The circle took the matter up, some contending that the spirit 
was mistaken, and others that we did not know what exceptions 
the spirit might have made had he not been interrupted. 

471. Then Prof. Denton, who is more experienced in hold- 
ing his form in controversy, rushed out of the cabinet, saying 
aloud : 

(a) "Friends, I did not intend to speak more this evening, 
but I shall try to settle this question with you, and defend my 
good brother Paine a little. N 

(b) "If he could have told you all he intended to have you 
understand him, you would have had no misunderstanding. 

(c) "Mr. Paine wished you to understand that after spirits 
have been in spirit life long enough to begin to penetrate and 
comprehend the glories of the higher spheres, they do not wish 
to return to earth even, much less back into the old, slow-going, 
cumbersome bunch of flesh and blood and bones. And when he 
said he had not met one who desired to so return to the earth 
life and take on that old cast-away body, he meant that he has 
never met a spirit who has been here long enough to be entirely 
separated from the physical condition of the plane of the old 
earth body who had any desire whatever to reinhabit that old 
body. 

{d) "Now, I say to you, that is a true exemplification of the 
fact on this point, and I say to you again, that there are some 
who soon after death or dissolution may and do wish to return, 
if it were possible, into the old body, because they have not 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 187 

found that it is possible to outgrow the faults of earth life, 
except in the body. They desire to come back into the old body 
to try to live a better life. 

(e) "And it may be that some of you would love to get back 
into the old body to lead a better life when you get out and 
your conscience wakes up. 

(/) "But when you find that Nature has provided amply 
for compensation in every department of life, you will not want 
to get back into the old body or into any such relation with the 
old physical life. 

(g) "How easy it is for some people to — well, to forget! 
You have heard people say, '1 was never sick,' and you can re- 
member when they were sick and grunted louder than anybody. 
Then, again: 'I have always been happy. I don't let anything 
trouble me.' 

Qi) "These people forget much. You know right well when 
they had a jealous fit, a mad spasm, and all their neighbors 
were mean. Such folks might want to get back into the old 
body just long enough to straighten all these matters out; but, 
after a while, you '11 be over all of it, and glad that it is so that 
you are done with the old body forever." 

Zelda (1214.) 

472. Makes her fourth writing. 

(a) When the spirit Zelda was producing this writing she 
invited the secretary and Dr. Schellhous to stand at the writ 
ing-table so as to see the writing being done and the hand and 
arm movements of the spirit. So the secretary stood on one 
side of the spirit and the doctor on the other, so that the writ- 
ing as being done was about eighteen inches from our eyes, and 
we could see the hand of the spirit moving over the paper, and 
we could also plainly see the writing come onto the paper as the 
spirit hand moved over it. When the spirit had one page 
written, she would tear the leaf having the writing on it from 
the tablet, place that leaf in the hand of the Doctor, write and 
tear out another leaf, giving to the Doctor each, until all was 
written for this time. Then the spirit said: "That is all for 
this time, gentlemen. Good-night." And instantly the spirit 
passed into the condition of invisibility so far as to the circle. 
In "Rending the Vail" is a full account of this mode of psychic 
writing and the methods used to determine the whole matter 
in scientific test conditions. 

473. Mrs. House being quite ill at home, Dr. Reed goes 
over there to try to help along with spirit magnetism, using 
the assistance of the circle, and while the Doctor is gone, 



188 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Sam, 

474. Engages in general talk with the circle, saying: 

(a) "Music to you mortals is wave motion of the atmos- 
phere. Spirits see these music waves the same as you see waves 
of water. These music waves assist the controls in collecting 
material from the circle and atmosphere to make up forms. 

(b) "Scientists are trying now to utilize the sun's rays to 
collect electricity to run machinery. 

(o) "The Keeley force? That was a fraud on his financial 
backers, played by means of compressed air in the cellar." 

(d) This spirit Sam seems to be able to engage in dis- 
cussion of scientific matters, it would seem, in such manner as 
ought to interest scientists. 

Seance for Forms and Recognition. 

May 1, 1900. 

475. At the seance especially for forms and recognition, 
Tuesday evening, May 1, 1900, the circle asked Doctor Eeed 
whether spirits who have advanced to higher spheres and have 
long been there ever returned to mortals, and the spirit made 
this answer, to-wit : 

(a) "Spirits, by virtue of any degree of advancement, how- 
ever high, are not barred the privilege of return; and, when 
they find that such return can be of use to the good of human 
beings, they do return. We are not here to teach that which is 
false to the people of earth, but to reveal what we know to be 
true. 

(b) "And when spirits have come to this circle claiming 
to be ancients, and from higher spheres, we know thdy represent 
the truth. If we knew otherwise, we would not allow their in- 
trusion here. 

(c) "Have you not learned yet that this band is not a pack 
of lying spirits, bent on deceiving the world? 

(d) "Of course those ancients from higher spheres do not 
come to you for the purpose of being recognized, for this would 
be impossible, as you never knew anything of them on earth. 
But when an ancient makes himself known to you once or twice 
and you see him again, you may know that he is the one before 
seen and recognize him as such, but you have no means, only 
his veracity, by which you may know of his antiquity and present 
high degree in the spheres. 

(e) "This question of our honesty and truthfulness in re- 
gard to our identity has been raised and answered before. (B. 
V., 426.) And those who raise such question are certainly 
placing themselves in no enviable position for truthfulness — 
but I do not mean any reflection upon the good lady who asks 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 189 

us the question here to-night; but, rather, we think she does us 
and the cause a kindness. 

(/) "Let me say one reason why ancients are here so much 
is that this has been made a station at which they can report 
themselves for the good of mortals and spirits; and we, after 
long efforts, have been successful in setting up this station." 

476. Some of the circle express themselves a little bit in- 
dignant at the question, and Denton comes to the rescue, saying: 
kk Now, friends, don't get excited over this matter. It will do 
good that the Doctor has this opportunity to present our side 
of the case in defense of Avhat we know is true." 

477. Then eight spirits, both ancient and modern, consec- 
utively appear to the circle: Socrates, Plato, Xenophon, two 
women of ancient Egypt; some of these have learned to speak 
English. One stands out in the center of the room, talks in 
an unknown tongue, grows eloquent in words and gesticulation, 
beckoning as though inviting someone from on high, and retires. 
The secretary says: "That spirit was telling us in his way that 
he is an ancient and is now back here, and that there is an 
eternal highway from earth to the highest spheres and return." 

478. And Denton rushed right out of the cabinet saying: 
"Yes, sir, Mr. Secretary, that is just what that spirit was tell- 
ing you and your interpretation is right, sir." 

Is Jesus Christ a Myth? 

479. During the evening Dr. Schellhous asked Prof. Den- 
ton this question: "Is Jesus Christ a personality or a myth?" 

(a) The spirit, in his best oratorical style, answered : "Yes, 
I know, Doctor, that the medium received a letter to-day from a, 
gentleman desiring that I answer, and will say that if conditions 
be favorable at next intellectual seance, I shall try to say some- 
thing about it. I do not know that I am able to give any better 
oi' more concise statement in answer than those of Thomas 
Paine, as found in "Rending the Vail" (see R. V., 2393, 2394. 2470- 
2479); he there gives the matter exactly as 1 understand it. 1 
may be able to set it out in a little different manner, use more 
words, but I cannot make the matter in better shape. 

(b) "I may say now that Mr. Paine, in saying there was one 
Josie, a medium, that was manufactured or doctored up into 
the modern 'historical Jesus Christ': There is no such person- 
age as the Lord Jesus Christ recognized here by any of the 
higher spirits whom I have yet met; but there is here the Josie 
of which Mr. Paine has spoken, but he is not held here to be 
any more of a Savior than anv good man. 



190 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 




GAUTAMA, THE BUDDHA. 



(445.) 



Gautama llmlilhn. 



480. (a) "There was, before Josie, Buddha, whose follow- 
ers adored him as a savior, and many millions now adore this 
Buddha as their savior. Now, this Buddha is a real personality 
in history, but the savior part of him is a myth. (R. V., 703 a-d.) 

(&). '"The fact that for thousands of years one-third of the 
human race on earth have held Buddha to be a savior, a god, 
does not make him in any special sense either savior or god. 
Neither does the fact that Josie, who lived on earth four hun- 
dred or five hundred years after Buddha, and it being claimed 
for him, Josie, to be a savior, a god, by not more than one-fifth 
of the human race on earth, make of Josie the 'Lord God Al- 
mighty/ The Jesus Christ or Savior part of Josie is a myth, 
just as the saviorship of. Buddha is absolutely a myth, and the 
miraculous conception of the one is just as mythological as that 



BEYOND TEE TAIL. 191 

of the other." (See "Rending the Vail," pages 129-131, para- 
graph 703 ad.) 

Seance No. 88. 

May 3, 1900. 

481. The usual circle was in attendance. 

Zelda 

482. Makes her writing No. 5, found at paragraph 1216. 

483. When Zelda had written and gone, M. B. Stone, late 
of Texas, appeared in a make-up so complete as to be recog- 
nized by Mr. Barber, who had known him before his transition. 

Rogers, the Annihilationist. 

484. Then there came forth and stood before the circle a 
materialization which spoke in quite a deliberate manner and 
in clear utterance, saying: 

(a) "When I was living on earth, I thought that death 
ended all; that when the body is laid away in the ground, that 
settled the whole matter forever; that the simple thought of 
any spirit was utter foolishness; that there could not possibly 
be anything in it whatever. 

(b) "I believed in complete and eternal annihilation. I 
heard them talk of a resurrection of the body; and others, of 
a resurrection of some kind of spiritual body. But I could see 
nothing except foolish, absurd nonsense in any kind of iden- 
tity of the being in future life. 

(c) "But, my friends, I am now well satisfied, I find that 
Spiritualism is true. My greatest regret is that I did not know 
of future life while I was in the mortal. But Spiritualism has 
at last brought me into the light. And I have indeed been 
greatly benefited by it. 

(d) ' "Oh, friends, it is a terrible thing to believe in annihi- 
lation! Oh, how terrible! 

(e) "I was something of an inquiring mind, and anxious to 
know, but was so very skeptical while living on the earth plane ! 
I let my skepticism prevent my investigation, and it led me to 
oppose everything and T was proud of being in opposition to 
everything, so much so that it shut up my spiritual eyes, if in- 
deed I ever had "anything more than rudimental eyes of the 
spirit. And, so passed to this side of life seventy-five years ago, 
I think it was; and it is only very recently that I have been 
able to discern the light at all, aud just now found this truth 
in its fullness; and I am happy to be here now, such a glorious 
privilege this, and I am so thankful! My name is Rogers.-' 



192 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Iludimental Eye. 

485. The secretary would interpolate a thought here: 
Whether or not it is with spirit eyes as it is with the physical 
organ of vision? We learn from natural history that if lish be 
confined in water in the dark for a number of years, by and by 
they have only rudimental eyes, and that in some instances 
where fish have lived and propagated in the darkness of caves 
and subterranean streams, the eye becomes nearly extinct. And 
we learn also that if such fish be taken from the darkness and 
transferred to waters in the light, there, after a while, the eye 
germ grows, enlarges, unfolds, and gradually gains its power 
of vision until the descendant of the fish that was blind is able to 
discern the full light of day. So may it not possibly be with the 
spirit eye, sometimes so rudimental at transition that years 
of duration are required to have it developed into an eye of 
clear vision of the beauties of the great spirit world? And thus 
may we not be able to discern that this Mr. Rogers' statement, 
that it has taken him seventy-five years to become a clear-seeing 
spirit, may be true? 

Durrani. 

486. And another stranger came before the circle and in 
good conversational manner said: "I am Durrant. I came here 
by the hangman's rope. I was not guilty of that crime. I was 
not allowed a fair trial. If I could have had one month of 
respite, T could and would have clearly proven an alibi. My 
case is another judicial murder of an innocent mam" 

Circle: "Do you know who is the guilty party?" 
Spirit: "The guilty party will yet confess the crime and 
be able to tell the world how the innocent was made to suffer 
death instead of the guilty." ("If the thing come to pass." — Sec.) 

Goebel. 

487. One speaking as though not used to this way, said: 
"My name is Goebel. There has been great commotion about 
my tragic death in Kentucky." 



John Beeson 



488. One of Spring Hill's old citizens, who was by all his 
neighbors conceded to be a good, honest, moral, upright man, 
although as near to atheism as is seldom found. At a ripe old 
age his mentality gave way, or, rather, his brain became im- 
paired so that the spirit could not clearly manifest through it. 
A few years ago he passed to spirit life, and is just now able to 
return and in full-form materialization able to very fully per- 
sonify himself to Messrs. Pratt and House. 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 193 

The Odd Fellows. 

489. Then came out to Mr. Barber one form after another 
in exemplification of some of the work of I. O. O. F. — one spirit 
in N. G. regalia, one in V. G., one in E. S., one in L. S., one in 
Con., and one in P. G. regalia; and some of these gave much of 
the secret work of the order to the comprehension of those 
present known to the work. 

Denton. 

490. Then came Denton, saying: 

(a) "Friends, you have quite a selection announced for this 
evening, to-wit: 

Jesus of Nazareth. 

You will remember that on last Tuesday evening 1 promised 
that I would say something to-night upon this theme, and I want 
to say for the world that I am sorry that so many people think 
there is a Jesus Christ. Although I told you the other even- 
ing all that would seem necessary for me to say, yet I take 
this occasion to farther elaborate. 

491. "There was a man who tried to live a Christ principle. 
He was endowed by nature just as many others were and 
are of high degree of spirituality, and he chose to allow these 
powers of his nature to be utilized, to be given out for the 
benefit of man, and was, as many others were, crucified. The 
fact of his crucifixion does not more make of him a god than 
did thousands of others become God Almighty just because they 
were crucified. And when they worship any one or any ideal as 
Jesus the Christ and very God, they are in the attitude of idola- 
ters, and none the less excusable because of their boasted intelli- 
gence and civilization. 

{a) "I think that everyone can become as perfect as was 
that man they idolatrously worship as the Jesus Christ and 
'Lord God Almighty.' In all my experience I have never met a 
spirit that has ever seen such a personage as this Jesus Christ. 
And, of all reports we have ever received from the higher 
spheres beyond us, none has ever reported the existence of such 
an one. 

(b) "If there be such an one and he is here, why does he 
not report himself? If he is beyond us in higher spheres, why 
does he not report there? Another thing I might as well tell 
you now is that we have never seen nor heard of any spirit 
who has ever seen that God whose only begotten son was Jesus 
Christ. Never have we even seen any 'Lord God Almighty/ nor 
met any spirit who ever saw sach a personage. But people have 
to worship something, arid if they can't find anything else to 



194 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

worship, they build up an image of clay and worship that. 

492. "And then they have to have a bible to tell all about 
their god, and if they can't find a bible that suits, they turn in 
and make one to suit their image of clay. But I want to say to 
you again that the book you commonly call the Bible has no 
authenticity whatever. Who wrote it they do not know, nor 
do they know when it was written; some people think they 
know, but in fact they know nothing about it whatever. We 
may give you some more light as to the origin of the Bible be- 
fore we close this work. (R. V., 2257-2260.) 

"You can tell that man in Texas that there never was a 
flood, cyclone, tornado, or human plague sent from God. 

No Special Providences. 

493. "You came into the world under immutable, inexor- 
able law. You came — you could not help that. By the same law 
you cannot help but go out. General and eternal law does it 
all. No personal God sits around like a vulture on a stump 
watching your every movement. God has nothing to do with it. 
But, my friends, a great many spirits there are who have some- 
thing to do with many of these things." 

E. V. Wilson. 

494. "Pleasant greetings to you this evening. I am glad to 
be able to continue to work for the good of man. W T hen in the 
mortal I was sometimes called the old 'wheel-horse.' I worked 
for Spiritualism, and worked right on in spite of sneers — yes, 
indeed I did; I encountered opposition everywhere. And at one 
time they were going to egg me, as your good secretary there 
knows and can tell you about. I was a martyr to the good of 
man, and am yet working right on and shall continue to work 
on, perhaps for ages yet to be." 

Agatha, 

495. An Egyptian princess, as Mr. Barber's guide, made a 
very brilliant appearance. 

Annie Clemem, 

496. Drowned in Detroit River, was an associate of Wesley 
Aber, and they seem to be associated now in giving spiritual 
truth to the world as best they can. 

Little Nellie, 

497. Who always appears as a little child, and so talks 
with both a lisp and stutter, was sent out to sight of the circle 
and chattered off her experience, saying in her childish manner : 

(a) "Dood-evenin', foltses. Dood-evenin', Untie Nitzen. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 195 

Dood Dr. Eeed sent me on t-t-to t-t-tell you of m-m-my m-mes- 
messenger work. I-I meet so many 'ittle f oltses what tomes to 
'is side of life. So many, too, tomes 'ere so much un-h-h-happy. 
Well, I take 'em an' lead along de way to de homes prepared and 
to de f oltses wat tends to 'is work of 'ittle ones an' always 
takes dood tare uv 'em an' leads along an' makes messengers 
uv 'em an' all dits dlad by an' by, an' dey helps de unhappy 
ones to be happy, an' 'e 'ittle messengers is as ooseful as de big 
foltses, an' all who wants to do something is always busy. 
Dood-night." 

498. Then Yerma, and an ancient with white sash, and 
Sam winds us up with "air-ship that is bound to go," and tells 
us to be on the watch out, and when we see the great machine 
coming in the air, not to suspect the devil loose again. 

Seance No. 89. 

May 5, 1900. 

499. Dr. Reed opens the seance in his usual salutatory way, 
hoping that the circle will give out its best conditions for har- 
mony and for a successful seance; promises the secretary a 
good round job to report the seance; promises introduction of 
new elements from the spirit side and calls the secretary down 
for not reporting in full his speech of a few evenings ago. 

Secretary: "It is very likely, Doctor, that I did not get 
your remarks all into the report." 

Spirit: "I should think you didn't." 

Secretary: "Well, Doctor, the secretary would like to note 
that he does not pretend to be able, of himself, unaided by 
either the spirit that makes the speech or by some spirit that 
can remember the speech, to report the speech at all in full; 
and it may be that sometimes, when the secretary is trying to 
get the matter written out, no spirit knowing the matter can 
just then approach near enough to fully guide the secretary in 
the report." 

Rogers, Not the Miner. 

500. Following Dr. Reed the spirit Rogers, not the miner, 
announced the name. But when the spirit said: "Good-evening, 
friends," he spoke so much in imitation of Denton as to mislead 
the secretary to think it Denton; the secretary, having his eyes 
on his notes and not looking at the form, began to write "Den- 
ton," but the spirit said : "You are mistaken this time, for I am 
Rogers, that infidel." 

Denton, 

501. Then Denton did appear in good make-up and his 
usually clear manner of enunciation, saying: 

(a) "Some are wondering how it is that we do not run out 
of material? One reason is that the material is very plentiful 



196 HEYOND THE VAIL. 

and we expect to introduce other spirits to you to-night in virtue 
of our messenger service. 

(b) "It does my soul and heart good that I can aid the 
little ones. It is so much like heaven to help to school them 
and take care of them until they are able to begin their 
missions." 

Kossuth. 

501-J. Kossuth announces himself. 

(a) "At last a channel is open for me to reach the earth. 
One reason I have not more sought such a channel is that I 
supposed my books that I left on the earth plane would suf- 
ficiently disseminate my thoughts among the people. But I am 
here now' to tell the people of the matters I have learned on 
this side; to reveal to the people what I now know, that prob- 
ably would be of greatest benefit to them. 

(&) "This side of life is as much a fact as that side. Ail 
things here are as much under law as are all things there. The 
laws governing the two worlds and the laws governing the re- 
lations between the two worlds are quite well known to many 
spirits, and must become known to many mortals before a gen- 
eral revelation of the conditions of life in the spirit world and 
the necessary earthly attainments for man to fulfill, quickest, 
the highest purposes of his being, can be made to mortals. 

(c) "The spirit world has been working and watching for 
a way to reach your world with the light and truth of eternity. 
And now we have that way beginning to open and not again to 
be closed, and I am most happy of this glorious dawning, and 
rejoice that I may vet be heard more efficaciously in your world. 
Good-night." 

502. Victor Hugo, Mozart, and 01 e Bull, each in good make- 
up, stood before the circle, but neither one seemed to vocalize 
to any extent beyond a common greeting and each announcing 
his name. 

Elder Donally (or Donley). 

503. A spirit whom the circle knew not stood to view, 
speaking in rather measured style, as though a public speaker, 
weighing his thoughts as uttered, and said: 

(a) "Many people will be surprised to learn of my rehabili- 
tation here and of what I have to report back from the spirit 
world to mortals. 

(&) "Friends, I was a church member, but I am not a 
church member now. I tried to be a Christian. I was so cer- 
tain of salvation by virtue of the blood of Jesus Christ and of 
outer darkness without this blessed Savior that I preached to 
the people to make their peace with God by taking the name 
of Jesus on their lips. 

(c) "I thought when I would go hence I would meet this 



BEYOND THE VAIL. J 97 

Savior and His convoy on the eternity side of the Jordan, and 
would be caught up in the arms of Jesus and by Him borne away 
to His Father's right hand in glory. For 1 had prayed, and 
prayed, and prayed! I had prayed long and loud! I prayed for 
myself and I prayed for all about me! I preached and prayed 
for all people, everywhere, to repent, and confess the Lord 
Jesus Christ; in default of which, to be eternally lost! I ex- 
horted the people to turn in with the overtures of mercy before 
it was everlastingly too late! too late! 

(d) "Finally the hour came when I felt the hand, the cold 
icy hand of Death upon me! But I had done my duty — I had 
warned sinners to flee from the wrath to come, and had exhorted 
them with their cold, stony hearts to let Jesus Christ the Lord 
of glory have possession of their stubborn wills. In retrospec- 
tion I had left nothing undone. If anybody would miss heaven 
and hit the fires below, my hands were washed of their tor- 
ments, and I could confidingly pray with my dying lips: 'Lord 
Jesus Christ, receive my spirit.' And thus I bade earth adieu 
and launched away! 

(e) "And now I am here to report to your world that the 
first thing I found over here was that my prayers were not 
answered; and that, although 1 hunted, and called, and longed 
for them, I have not to this day found the arms of Jesus. After 
I had hunted for my Jesus, for my God, for my heaven, alone, 
seemingly, in a waste, bleak, barren, desolate country, without 
avail, at last, hopeless, forlorn, I cried in the depths of my soul: 
i Where am I? Why am I lost in this dark desert?' And as I 
was moving about in this lost and undone condition, I met the 
missionaries of these dark conditions and they bade me look 
aloft; not for my Jesus Christ, nor any Savior outside of myself. 

if) "And, oh, how gladly I did listen to their words of cour- 
age, of cheer, of instruction! and I obeyed the advice they gave 
me. Otherwise, I would not have been here to tell you about 
how I was lost and how I was found. I did have some ad- 
vantages. I was a good, kind-hearted man. I was honest. I 
was sincere and tried to do right. The great trouble was my 
early training — with which, however, I had no part in shaping, 
no more than I had a voice as to where I should be born. 

(g) "I am glad to come back and tell those who are rolling 
their eyes up toward the sky or the church house ceiling in 
prayer, that they are destined to be disappointed as I was. And 
although my disappointment w r as great as to myself, yet I am 
now glad that it was no worse with me. 

The Misguided Daughter. 
504. (a) "But listen now, O ye Christians of all your 
world! Suppose what I am to tell you now were your case, 
where could your heaven be? Listen. Soon my daughter, my 



198 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

own dear beloved daughter, who had confidingly listened to her 
father's preaching and prayers, her innocent soul thus filled 
with all the error possible concerning the conditions of spirit 
life — soon, I say to you, this dear one of mine came to this side 
to be more sorely disappointed than T was. And other dear 
ones, all thus misguided, to follow. Contemplate the scene, ye 
people of earth. I am not alone. Hundreds more there are. 
And this great panorama of bitter disappointment is continu- 
ally unrolling and moving on. Well, what of all this? 

(o) "Excuse me, please, I do not speak to insult anybody, 
but, for myself, I have concluded that Christianity is a solemn 
farce. My name is Elder Donally." 

Bishop Hale. 

505. Speaking a mixture of Irish brogue and the broad 
a of some English people, a spirit addressed us, saying: 

(a) "I was of the Christian priesthood. I have been on 
this side many years and have had much experience here. You 
will find me in history as Bishop Hale. 

(&) "I find, my friends, that the truth is about as the man 
just preceeding me has stated it to you. And I find further that 
you are about right here. I believe that Spiritualism is the 
only true religion; that it is the only religion that, in time or 
eternity, as you may say, stands in perfect harmony with all 
conditions. 

"Spiritualism is Therefore the Religion of Peace. 

506. "It is the only religion that has its consistent devo- 
tees pass from the mortal to spirit side of life through the gates 
of light and immediately into the brilliancy of eternal day. 

(a) "I did not tarry long in darkness hunting \around for 
my Savior. When I did not find Him according to promise, I 
suspected something wrong about it, and I made inquiry, and 
soon found that those here had never known of or been able 
to find that Savior, and I soon quit hunting for Him. I thought 
I was losing time in wandering and looking about for Him, and 
soon gave up the search, quit the hunt and listened to the voices 
of those who had been many years, as you would say, in this 
fair country, and the good souls of them soon had my feet out 
of the mire and clay of a false theology and standing on Spirit- 
ualism as the rock of eternal ages. 

(o) "I have been longing to be able to return to your world 
and tell my people and all people of this, the grandest philos- 
ophy of all the ages. You may know one truth: You retain 
very much of your nationality — it is not lost in crossing the 
tomb. 

(c) "I was Irish and still I am Irish. And I say now, I 
have met many priests, and many of them, like myself, soon see 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 



199 



how they were cheated, but some are more stubborn. Yet all 
must, by and by, see all the mists and errors of earth-training 
cleared away, and, as for me, the sooner the better. And the 
sooner the errors no longer be taught on earth the better, and 
the priests will all one day rather regret the errors they taught 
to their people while in the mortal. Good-night." 

Daniel O'Brien, 

507. The jolly Irish spirit, seized the trumpet and through 
it said: 

"Good-ayenin', frinds; and how do yeze all do, anyway? 
Say, Mr. Secretary, how do ye loike the spache of that mon 
Hale, Oi do' know?" 

Secretary: "Well, Daniel, that is much of a speech, and 
sure it is." 

Spirit: "That is my work — gittin' 'im 'ere. Oi thried fur 
quoite a while and Oi brought him in at last, and this is what 
Daniel is doin'. Good-night." 






- 








■■;-;. 



A BRAHMIN, 



(508.) 



200 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

The Hindoo Brahmin. 

508. A materialization in clothing and general appearance 
like unto a Hindoo of caste, came into the condition of visibility 
before the circle, talking very clearly in good oral speech, but 
in an unknown tongue to us, and when the supposed Hindoo 
had gone away, the 

Artist 

509. Came forth to visibility in his happiest mood and 
took from the box, as at all times, a sheet of sketch paper and 
exhibited the paper to each member of the circle so that all 
could and did see that there was no sketching of any kind on 
the paper. The artist then took his position at the writing- 
table, spread the paper on the desk ready to begin a sketch, and 
asked the circle whether he should make a picture of that 
stranger just here, and being assured that that would be en- 
tirely satisfactory to the circle, he proceeded to make a picture, 
showing his work on the paper from time to time, at the dif- 
ferent stages of the sketch, to 'view of the circle; and when the 
work of sketching was done, the spirit took fixative in his mouth 
and blew it over the work as a Chinese laundryman would 
sprinkle clothing for ironing, and then in great glee exhibited 
his work to full view of all the circle, and there on that paper, 
that less than five minutes ago was blank, the circle beheld 
the life-size bust portrait of the form of the supposed Hindoo 
as he appeared to us as at paragraph 508. This is not the an- 
cient Hindoo Brahma, but the founder of a small theistic church 
in India called Brahma Samaj. His name was N 

Bern, Mali an Bdi, 

and he was born in the district of Bardwan in 1772. 

Being impressed with the fallacy of the religious cere- 
monies practiced by his countrymen, he impartially investigated 
the Hindoo Shastras, the Koran, and the Bible; he repudiated 
the polytheistic worship of the Shastras as false, and inculcated 
the reform principles of Monotheism as found in the ancient 
Upanishads and the Vedas, and the new faith at this period 
holds to the Vedas as its basis. 

This Brahma creed, definitely formulated, has for its basis 
the book of Nature and intuition, no written book, but truth 
only; man's progressive nature — one Supreme Being alone; 
repudiates his incarnations; in a state of conscious existence 
after death; that repentance is the only way to salvation in the 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 201 

providential care of the Divine Father; the performance of 
good works is true worship. They do not believe in pilgrim- 
ages. Divine contemplation, charity, and cultivation of devo- 
tional feelings are their rites and ceremonies. There is no 
distinction of caste among them — for all are the children of 
God. (Encyclopedia Britannica, article, "'Brahma Samaj.") 

This is undoubtedly a test case. The spirit face on left 
partly hid by cabinet curtain, the headgear, mustache, and all 
just as the circle saw the form while it was talking an unknown 
tongue, all drawn in the picture upon paper that the circle had 
seen to be blank at the beginning; and the further test that 
while the artist was making this portrait, the spirit that this 
circle recognizes as 

Diogenes 

510. Stood forth saying: 

"I am here without my lantern this time. I have at last 
found an honest man; but I had to wait until he could be made 
in the spirit world, though I still use my lantern in dark places 
over here. For part of my mission now is to preach to spirits 
in prison and lead them into the light of honesty and truth. " 



Professor Denton 

511. Came again, at this point, inquiring how we appre- 
ciate the new-comers introduced to-night. 

And here the artist delivered his portrait to the inspection 
of the circle, and the circle expressed intense delight concern- 
ing the portrait and the conditions attending the making of the 
picture, and Denton and the artist were gone. 



Mrs. Margaret Dayton, 

512. In very amazing brilliancy, presented herself to her 
people, Mr. and Mrs. House. Then said to the secretary: "1 
believe I have already given a little talk for your book and it is 
my purpose to say a little more at some time, for you to use or 
not, as you may deem better." 



202 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Mrs. Dr. Wellington. 

513. Then Mrs. Doctor Wellington, sister to Mr. House, 
whose husband established the city of Wellington, Kansas, and 
both now in spirit life, approached near to Mr. and Mrs. House 
in the northwest corner of the room and made her identity 
clearly known to them and promised them that she would try 
to have her husband, Dr. Wellington, who is now also in spirit 
life, endeavor to give a message for the book. Then went 
across the room in front of the circle, to the secretary in the 
southeast corner of the room, turned and faced the circle to 
the northeast, and said : 



Cremation. 

{a) "I hear some of you asking about cremation; and, hav- 
ing considered that subject to some extent and noted its effects 
upon immediate post-mortal conditions, I must say, for myself, 
that it certainly is the preferable mode of disposition of the 
mortal remains. So far as this life is concerned, it at once frees 
the spirit from attractions toward the old remains and gives it 
perfect liberty, which, I think, is, sometimes at least, a great 
boon to the transition state. 

(b) "There can be no question that I can see but what 
cremation is much better for the health and longevity of 
mortals, especially in densely populated centers. This must be 
apparent to everyone in considering good sanitary conditions. 

(c) "And I should think when people learn thoroughly of 
the great fact of Spiritualism the objections ought all to be 
gone. I am only speaking for myself. There may be some who 
never could reconcile themselves to abandon the long usages of 
interment and tombs and mausoleums." 

The mortal remains of this spirit were cremated. 

514. And then Dr. Wellington himself put in an appear- 
ance of identity to Mr. and Mrs. House, to their great delight. 

515. Aunt Betsy Price and Sallie Cray Craft and Mother 
Pratt, all exceedingly realistic to Mr. Pratt. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



203 




and 



JENNIE BARBER. 

Jennie Barber, 
51G. In very bright make-up, to Mr. Barber. 

Alice House, 

517. A wonderful recognition to her father, Mr. House, 

Frankie Schellhous, 

518. Daughter of Dr. Schellhous, and 



204 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 



Ella Schellhous, 
niece to Dr. Schellbous, in more brilliant make-ups than ever 
before, to tbe Doctor's great joy in the complete recognition. 
519. Mrs. House meets her mother from "beyond the vail,"" 
and a glorious meeting to behold! 




AGATHA. 



Agatha. 
520. An Egyptian lady, claiming to be Mr. Barber's guide,. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 205 

walking across the room from the cabinet to Mr. Barber, in 
the center of the circle. 

Rachel Diogenes, 

521. In brilliantly self -illuminated attire. 

522. Let the reader draw on the imagination just a moment 
to contemplate this grand display: Nine spiritual beings clad 
in pure white, and some of their apparel appearing to be be- 
decked full of gems sparkling as diamonds. And these forms, 
one at a time, moving about the room and near to the parties 
of the circle for whom they especially appear, whispering words 
of consolation; and Giordano Bruno, speaking aloud, said: "I 
do not have to be burned at the stake now, but out of the fire 
and the hands of an enfrenzied religious mob, above the con- 
tending warring elements of earth, in peace, in quiet, in happi- 
ness, alive forever more, inviting people of earth to come up 
higher.'' 

523. And Father House to his son Cornelius, closes the 
array — an actual experience seldom known to mortals. 

Seance No. 40. 

May 10, 1900. 

Dr. Reed, 

524. As presiding on the spirit side, said: 

(a) "Friends, we meet again. I am glad to see you all 
feeling as though we have good conditions for our work this 
evening. And now permit me to introduce to you our good and 
noble brother, 

Epes Sargent" 

525. And as the spirit Reed closes the cabinet curtains in 
front of him, we behold the spirit Sargent already standing at 
the southeast corner of the cabinet, and, facing to the north, 
east, he talks in good strong measured speech, thus: 

(a) "Friends, I am happy to be here at this time." Turn- 
ing to the secretary, the spirit said: "I met Mr. Bundy 
recently." 

Secretary: "Mr. Bundy still lives. He stopped in on us 
the other evening for a moment." 

Spirit: "Yes, sir; I should think he would not forget you 
here. 

(b) "Friends, I visited here some years ago, and I thought 
then there might be something on foot, that would finally be 
of benefit to the people. And I see now that a great work has 
been done, one which is doing good that even you do not 
know of. 

(c) "It is reaching out in an ever-widening circle; and, for 



206 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

me, I am glad of it. And still your work is going on, and 
many already know that there may be something here of which 
their own philosophy never dreamed. 

(d) "Some would be with you for investigation, but are 
ashamed; others are too cowardly, and yet others too hog-like 
— would take it all if you put it up in nice sauce and take it to 
them and pay them for eating. Many do not want to know, and 
there is one aphorism you should remember and obey: 'Do not 
cast your pearls before swine.' 

(e) "You may be able to reach some where there is brain, 
but you can't put brains into a wooden man. Don't be worry- 
ing about them. Let them do the worrying. Just let them 
alone. They will find out some time. They will seek you, by 
and by. You should go right on your even way. They hear of 
it and, I say again, they don't want to know. 

(/) "I am here to tell you that Spiritualism is moving on 
and they can't stop it. They may incarcerate a few mediums, 
now and then, but that won't stop it. The world moves and 
moves right on. They thought to stop the world by burning 
somebody — but the world goes on. And Spiritualism moves 
on, and whoever gets in the way gets hit, and it hurts them, but 
they don't find out what hit them until they get over the shock 
— until they come to know where they are. And sometimes 
they remain in self-complacent ignorance a long time, but they 
cannot sleep always. That is not the law. 

Ignorant Spirits Do, but Advanced Spirits Do Not Report of Jesus. 

526. (g) "Some spirits are just as ignorant as any mor- 
tals, for they carry their ignorance with them to v the spirit 
world. Once in a while one of these most ignorant ones sees 
another spirit and asks: 'Sir, will you tell me how I can find 
Jesus, my Savior, my God?' and that spirit says: 'Look on me; 
I am He.' And then this misguided one, if having the oppor- 
tunity of an ignorant circle, reports: 'Yes, Jesus is here. I 
have seen Jesus. I have seen God.' But no advanced spirits 
ever report anywhere that they have met such personages as 
Jesus Christ and God. Now, if there were such personages, 
they would have found it out a long time ago. My time is up. 
I must go now, but I shall help on this good work all I can. 
Good-night." 

Denton. 

527. "We are all here again. 

(a) "That man Sargent who was just here is a good spirit. 
He is trying to do all the good he can. Although he has not 
been known to you of late, he has, nevertheless, been busy all 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 207 

the time, and it may be that he will be recognized more fre- 
quently hereafter in the work here. 

Silent and Absent Treatment. 

528. (a) "There has been much discussion recently con- 
cerning silent or absent treatment. And some there are who 
pretend to be able to give efficacious absent treatment without 
the intervention of any spirit aid. They would have you believe 
that they can come en rapport with the patient at a distance a,nd 
by virtue of will-power move the magnetic forces of the pa- 
tient to cause healthful reaction; that the doctor can will his 
own magnetism to the body of the distant patient as a kind of 
detached magnetic personality to act medicinally upon, in, or 
through the organism of the patient. 

(o) "I want to say as loudly as I can that efficacious mag- 
netic treatment of absent patients without the help of spirits 
cannot be done. Why not give credit where it is due? 

(c) "Every successful magnetic healer has a spirit doctor 
or doctors around him that manipulate the magnetic and elec- 
tric forces to the resuscitation of lost vigor, and when the pa- 
tient is absent from the magnetic healer the spirits have to 
depend upon spirit magnetism and cannot succeed so well as 
where the patient is near to the magnetic healer, for in the 
latter case there is the advantage of the healer's vital magnet- 
isms to cooperate with spirit magnetism; so where the patient 
is present it is much better. I am not denying absent treat- 
ment at all, for that is being done every day, but not independ- 
ently of spirit assistance. And the rapport of doctor and patient 
is simply such spiritual sympathy as to allow the healer's guides 
to reach the patient." 

Professor Hare. 

529. "This is a great trial for me. While I have not been 
manifest to you, I have, nevertheless, been busy all the time at 
cabinet work, and assisting to get material. I realize that this 
is a great work and I can say this : that, though you may not be 
able to see me, I shall give all I can in knowledge and spirit force 
to move the work along. 

(a) "It is needless for me to say to you that Spiritualism 
is as old as your world and is getting more popular every day. 
The aristocracy are taking it into their homes, and there they 
are learning of this eternal truth. They have heard and seen so 
much of the 'sounding brass and tinkling cymbal' and 'flowery 
beds of ease' in air-castles having no greater assurance of foun- 
dation than empty sounds of oratorical lips, that they begin 



208 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

to want more substantial answers to their queries concerning 
the great hereafter, whether it be of perpetual life or eternal 
silence, that they begin to seek and want to have demonstra- 
tion. A blind faith no longer satisfies, and blind faith is all 
that all the churches in the world pretend to offer to the in- 
quiring soul; and now, say they, if Spiritualism is not truth, 
there is none. 

(&) "You say that two and two are four because you can 
prove it, and you can never get the child to see that proposi- 
tion until you do prove it. And so it is all the way through 
mathematics. The school-teacher in the field of science is not 
satisfied until his pupil can demonstrate the problems of th^ 
text to be true. 

(c) "The teacher of theology is sure his pupil is gone to 
Jiell the moment he is able to prove anything. 

id) "But Spiritualism, like a problem of mathematics, is 
susceptible of full, satisfactory demonstration. 

530. "I was in New York city but a little while ago, study- 
ing the attitude of the people there, and as I was leisurely mus- 
ing along, I was drawn near to two gentlemen, who also were 
leisurely walking down town and discussing topics of the day 
as they incidentally came up. At length one of them said, 
'What of Spiritualism? There seem to be some indications of 
prominence to that now — but I don't know.' 

"B. 'Well, sir, that is a matter that you should investi- 
gate. I find, from experience, that there is much in it — that 
it is a great truth; and if you were not a coward, you could 
easily find out as much as I.' 

"A. 'You don't pretend to call me a coward, do you?' 

"B. 'Any person who, at this late day, wants* to know the 
truth, yet has not even tried to find it, can be excused on no 
other ground than moral cowardice. And from your talk I 
must conclude you to be a moral coward. Yea, my friend, I 
conclude any man is a moral coward who will not investigate 
as to the claims of Spiritualism/ 

"A. 'I had an aunt in whom I always felt great interest 
and to whom I was warmly attached. After her death I had 
peculiar impressions — most extraordinarily peculiar. So much 
so that it seemed I could sense her very presence as of yore.' 

"B. 'Yes, sir. Many a man and woman has just such ex- 
perience about some dear departed one. It is that one trying 
to reveal the personality still living, knowing, loving as in all 
those days gone by; but the moral coward exclaims: "Avaunt, 
thou diabolical hallucination!" And the spirit thus resisted 
soon learns of the terrible power of popular prejudice, and re- 
grettingly leaves the moral coward to linger in the darkness 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 209 

of ignorance while the dear departed one seeks more congenial 
associations.' 

531. "So the people begin to talk about it and to hope 
that this work is indeed a child of the skies worthy of enter- 
tainment. But, friends, this moral cowardice of your earth 
plane sends many to this side in ignorance and darkness. 

(a) "Only a little while since I met a spirit that had not 
known of anything beyond the tomb. He was hovering around 
his grave, and it was hard to convince him that his body was 
dead, and that he had no more use for it. 

(b) "But, friends, for this occasion my time is up, and I 
must go. Goodnight." 

Writing and Talking at the Same Time. 

531^. The spirit Wesley Aber, who had not been before 
us for some time, stood at the writing-desk and picked up a 
tablet and opened it and began to write quite deliberately; and, 
while writing, he was talking also, saying: "I think I shalll 
write some at this time, for it has been quite a while since I 
did write, and I believe I can write more concisely than I can 
talk. I am pleased to meet you in this way. Though unan- 
nounced, I have been here at the seances. And I have been 
looking around also, and find that Spiritualism is advancing. 
It is getting strong and vigorous, and able to stand on its own 
bottom. It is moving on and they cannot stop it. 

(a) "I have now written one page." He tears the leaf of 
writing out of the tablet and places it on the table, and writes 
on, but talking all the while, and continues another page of 
writing while talking, saying: 'Yes, they may be able to incar- 
cerate some mediums, but some will be left all the while to 
carry on the work. 

(b) "Sometimes you think we should be here at all times 
when strangers are here, but we know best. Some cannot com- 
prehend this work. 

(c) "Then, again, we do not think it best, even if we could, 
to have too much public gaze into our work until we get it 
ready for the public. 

(d) "Now, friends, one word to you. We consider you as 
essential integrants to this work as we ourselves. Without you 
we could no more do the work than you could without us, and 
we consider you as most extraordinarily faithful souls." 

(e) As the spirit tears from the tablet his remaining writ- 
ing', he says: "I have now written two pages an,d part of an- 
other, and now deliver this writing to our good friend, Dr. 
Schellhous, to retain to close of seance." Which the Doctor 
does, and the writing will be found at paragraph 1244. 

BV 14 



210 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

532. The reader will find the writing to contain two hun- 
dred and eleven words. At the same time, in exactly the same 
time he was doing the writing, the spirit spoke in common 
conversational manner and common rate of utterance of words 
in conversation or oratory two hundred and thirty-five words, 
and the matter spoken as widely differs from that written as 
it is possible to have the difference. How many people are 
there in the mortal that can duplicate this feat? Let some 
wiseacre who knows no word but "fraud" try his hand on this 
experiment. Let him commit to memory both of these efforts, 
the spoken and written words, and then try to produce the 
written words in his own handwriting while he will, at tlie 
ordinary conversational rate, speak the spoken words and re- 
port of his success to the world, and how he did it, or take 
down his "fraud" shingle. 

533. Now the artist comes forth, takes a sheet of sketch 
paper, exhibits it to the circle, and the circle unanimously pro- 
nounce the paper to be entirely blank. Then, at invitation of 
the spirit, Dr. Schellhous takes hold with left hand the upper 
left corner, and the secretary with right hand holding upper 
right corner of the paper, and the spirit with left hand hold- 
ing lower end of paper at center, moves right hand over the 
paper, as the spirit's hand so moves over the paper that we 
see the lines come on to the paper until there is the outline 
of a portrait drawn. Then the spirit blows over the paper as 
a Chinese laundryman blows water over his clothing for iron- 
ing; and, as the spirit blows, comes on the filling, clouding, and 
background, and in ninety seconds from beginning we have this 
finished portrait No. 21 of a young woman. N 

Kitty Sloe-urn, 

534. A spirit having the appearance of a young woman 
parted the cabinet curtains and glided out into the room in 
front of the circle. Most of the women forms appear to glide 
along, not to walk. We never hear footsteps of either the men 
or women forms except very rarely, no difference how swiftly 
they move over the floor, and sometimes they move across the 
room with amazing swiftness. 

(a) This form was clad in garments exceedingly white, and 
identified herself to Dr. Schellhous as the daughter of an ac- 
quaintance in California. Then the spirit went over to the sec- 
retary and saijj: 

(5) "My name is Kitty Slocum. This is a glorious privi- 
lege. The Doctor will report me home. I cannot stay longer 
now; hope to tell you, after awhile, something that may be of 
benefit to your work. Good-night." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 211 

Mary House, 

535. In most elegant make-up, clearly identifies herself to 
Mr. and Mrs. House as the former wife of Mr. House, taking 
some flowers from the table and delivering them as souvenirs 
to Mr. and Mrs. House; then goes over to the secretary, so that 
what she might say in whisper the secretary would get clearly 
through a trumpet which is used by the secretary to gather up 
the whispers. The circle, however, hear more or less of the 
whispering, and get enough of it so as to be able to recognize 
it in the secretary's reports. This spirit at this time said: 

(a) "You have had reports here from some who have told 
you that their mission is that of teaching; and I am here to 
say "that I, too, am a teacher. One qualification to be permit- 
ted to this pleasing work over here is purity — personal purity. 

(h) "Much of our work here is by example, by pattern, by 
illustration; hence it is requisite that the teacher be pure as 
possible. I have striven to grow to purity, and I am so glad 
when some away below me can see in me an example worthy 
of an effort to emulate. If my sisters of your whole earth 
could know of the eternal benefits to them from even trying 
to live pure lives, so many more of them would miss the lower 
conditions here and from their worn-out or cast-away garments 
of earth would pass right on to brighter awakening here. I 
must go. May tell you more some time. Goodnight." 

Seance No. Jf.1. 

May 13, 1900. 

536. The circle assembled as usual, and 

Denton, 

537. In his happiest manner, said: 

(a) "Well, I am present again. I want to say to our good 
brother, Dr. Schellhous, that we tender to him our thanks for 
the work he is doing in disseminating the facts of our being 
and working here. 

(b) "It may seem strange to some people who liv r e in larger 
towns than your little hamlet here that such work as this 
should be done at such a small town. And to those who know 
the facts it may seem more strange that such work is done and 
can be done here despite the fact that almost the entire popu- 
lation are in opposition and absolutely refuse to try to know 
of the truth of the matter. 

(c) "First, the work does not depend on a great number 
of people. If you look around, you will find that much of the 
great results to your world originated in some out-of-the way 
places, and only a few persons concerned in the setting up. In 



212 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

this case we do not need a great host of mortals to engage with 
us, but we do need a few. These few we (ind right here, on 
jour side, and we are in any desirable number on our side. 

(d) "Again: A medium having not a strong band about 
him would not succeed here. lSut we have considered every 
contingency and have concentrated our energies here, deter- 
mined to do this work that your world needs, and we deter- 
mined to do it here. While it is true that but few here in and 
about your town have any desire to find out whether this work 
is true, yet their opposition is only negative. They make no 
positive opposition or demonstration against the work. They 
simply remain in quiet negation. This does not interfere at all 
as a positive spirit of interference would. And we are prepared 
to meet the case as long as the simple negative is maintained. 
It is the positive action and will-force that interferes, as you 
should have learned long ago. And so long as you let the peo- 
ple alone in their self-complacent ignorance they will remain in 
the negative state, and we can go on. It is not always the 
largest number that accomplish most." 

Pontius Pilate. 

533. The voice of Sam in the cabinet: "Say, the Doctor 
told me to ask all of you if you believe that such a person as 
your historical Pontius Pilate did exist?" 

(a) Circle: "The historical identity of such a personage 
is sufficient to have us conclude that it is very probable such 
an one did exist." 

(o) Sam: "There is a fellow here who claims to be that 
person, and the Doctor said if you people have not sufficient 
history to make it probable to you, it would not be worth while 
to have him presented. So he comes to you now." 

(c) And immediately, at the point where the spirits now 
mostly stand before the circle for oratory, there stood the form 
of a man of about common stature, spealdng in broken English- 
Latin, though we could understand fairly well what he said 
to be this: 

(d) "My friends, this is somewhat strange to me, being 
almost wholly new. The good folks in the 'Tabernacle' invited 
me to try to speak to you of some things about which they 
think I ought to know. 

539. "I am Pontius Pilate. Since I left the tabernacle of 
earth, I have learned a great deal; and I am not here to con- 
demn anything. I was a governor, a ruler, a magistrate among 
my people. 

540. "My court was a court of record, and as it seems 
desirable here that I relate something concerning the alleged 



BEYOND THE T AIL. 213 

trial in my court of one said to be Jesus Christ, I do not find 
the name Jesus to ever have been on my list. 

541. "You find Pontius Pilate to be an historical charac- 
ter, with the same grounds of verity as to any of my contem- 
porary historical characters. And even modern biographies 
are no more certain. Then why not I be recognized as an act- 
ual personage, the same even as a modern?" 

Zechariah Thompson. 

542. Following Pilate, one stood forth, also a stranger to 
the circle; beginning in rather indistinct oral tones, but im- 
proving as he went on, he said: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. You seem to be having a 
good seance here; a great many spirits coming here. I am not 
an ancient, but thought from what those in there, the controls, 
said, that I had better accept their invitation and feast with 
you, as we so seldom get this chance. This channel, as you 
would say, this great, this glorious channel, from the spiritual 
to the material, is an open highway over which we can now 
come through the vail that separates between the two worlds. 
It is proving to be a thin vail, through which, when once parted, 
it is easy for you to see and for us to most triumphantly pass; 
and, although I am not much used to this way, having been in 
spirit life many years, and, according to my inclination, gath- 
ered much knowledge of conditions on our side, and having 
acquired a fair degree of the power of impartation, at request of 
the good spirits here, I shall try to impart to you some infor- 
mation of our glorious spirit world." Just here the secretary 
by some casualty let a strong beam of light suddenly strike 
the spirit, which, as Sam said, "knocked him all to pieces"; but, 
in a moment, the spirit chemist had him made up again and 
standing in sight of the circle and continuing: "It does seem 
strange that so many people are ignorant of all things concern- 
ing life, even life in the body. They don't seem to want to 
know anything beyond the financial profits of to-morrow, until 
the very hour of death is upon them. No scene, no catastrophe, 
no example, no experience, however near home, however home- 
desolating, will call their attention from the gods of earth, of 
fashion, of renown, of gold and silver, and the great god Mam- 
mon, except they feel the icy hand of the king of terrors. But 
now the hour of death is on, and it is too late, too late, to even 
look through these wide-open gates to the possibilities beyond. 

543. "Well, dear friends, little oues, dear little ones are 
torn from mothers' hearts — mothers' bleeding, hopeless, dis- 
consolate hearts. These dear little ones are coming to us all 
the time. Oh, what a relief it would be to such saddened hearts 



214 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

if the j could know of the glorious hands into whose care the 
little ones are gone! Oh, the tears of sorrow that need not 
flow but for self-imposed ignorance! 

544. "Only a few days ago I chanced at a most pitiful 
scene: A little one, a most lovely child, by a sad accident, as 
you call it, had its little life crushed out; in a single moment 
torn and taken away from dear mother. All the hopes the 
poor woman had in your world in one moment taken away 
forever. No hope, to her, beyond the tomb; the little darling 
in eternal silence. No knowledge otherwise can now be given 
to the poor, broken-hearted mother, and her wailings go out 
on midnight air, answered only by the wild echoes. 

545. "A knowledge that the good, kind care her little one 
now has in the hands of good spirits would have saved her from 
prostrate reason; but it is too late when death is on. I may 
call again. Good-night." Sam gives us the name and says he 
was a Quaker. 

Michael Servetus, 

546. In full form, standing before the circle, announced 
the name, and immediatelv assumed the invisible condition. 



Wesley Aber, 

547. Standing at the writing-desk, picked up a tablet and 
began writing, and as he wrote he talked thus : 

(a) "Friends, is there anything you would have me speak 
about while writing? We wish to give that which will instruct 
the people about future life. We wish to give such as will do 
good. I have half a page written. I will let you know as I go 
along. I now have one page written. [Tears leaf out and 
writes and talks on.] I wish someone or all of you could real- 
ize how easy it is to instruct the little ones that come here. 
How easy to have them learn that soon their father, their 
mother, their brothers, their sisters will come and meet them 
over here. I wish all parents could let their children know of 
future life. 

(b) "I want to say to the lady over there [pointing to one 
in the circle whose child visits these seances once in a while] 
that she has a bright one on earth now, who is attracting good 
spirits about her and that she has here already learned so 
much of the truth of future life that none can erase the great 
truth from her mind. I have written three pages, and my arti- 
cle is not yet complete. But now may the angel of light bless 
you all, and you be carried through the night info another 
dawning." (This writing begins at the word "disappointed" in 
paragraph 1246.) 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 



215 



548. One hundred and sixty-one words spoken, and three 
hundred and three words written during the time of the talk- 
ing. In this case the spirit wrote nearly twice as many words 
as he spoke, and his speaking was loud, clear, distinct, and at 
the usual conversational rate. So this writing is nearly twice 
the speed of ordinary shorthand, and more than four times the 
speed of the swiftest longhand; and the spoken and written 
words are altogether of different subject-matter. 

549. Isaac Aber announced his name. 

550. Daniel O'Brien, through the trumpet, gave his usual 
salutations all round the circle, and informs Mrs. House that 
he is a rustler with Sam for material to bring into the seances. 




BIG MOON-SQUIRREL TAIL. 

Big Moon — Squirrel Tail. 

551.- An Indian chief stood forth, saying: "Heap Big 
Moon. Comee bring conditions, help paleface with work. Heap 



216 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

big chiefs. Glad. Smokee peace pipe with paleface. Bring 
heap big influence from happy hunting-ground. Paleface heap 
chiefs, and squaws and papoosee on happy hunting-ground. 
Takee Big Moon scratchee down;, wlitee down." 

552. This Squirrel Tail seems to be one of Mr. House's 
guides or controls. 



Side Seance. 
E. S. Edwards. 



May 15, 1900. 



553. At a seance this evening, E. S. Edwards made an 
excellent display in materialized form, passing over the car- 
pet in front of the circle, visiting near to each one of the sit- 
ters, talking more or less to each; then took his station at the 
southeast corner of the cabinet, between secretary and cab- 
inet, and facing the circle to northeast, began a general talk, 
in which he said: 

(a) "1 would ask you, friends, to tell my wife and sister 
of my visible presence here, at this time. Tell them that I 
hold no malice toward them or anyone on account thai they 
sent me to the care of that asylum. It was best for them, 
and no worse for me. My dementia was very peculiar. It was 
not regular. I knew my condition as well as anyone, and dur- 
ing the calmness of my mind between dementia spasms I duly 
thought my case over and told them they had better put me 
in care of the hospital. Those abnormal conditions came on 
me in spite of all I could do. They seemed more like the on- 
coming of a tornado, and I was in the path of it and powerless 
to get out of the way. And so I knew that I was liable to be- 
come vicious and had better be where I could injure no one, 
especially neither my aged wife nor sister. 

(&) "Tell them I am now past it all, and back to the con- 
dition of my early days, and so I am hopefully looking and pre- 
paring for them over here, and I can see and realize the near 
approach of our happy reunion on this side of life. Tell them 
to be as cheerful as they can. I am with them all that is pos- 
sible for me, and I shall be. I am glad of the chance we had, 
though late in life, to learn of the great fact of immortal life 
through Spiritualism. It has been of great benefit to me on 
this side, and had I known of it earlier in life, it would have 
been still more helpful to me. And I feel so thankful to some 
of you and to this medium for privileges given me to know of 
this eternal truth. ' 

(c) "Some people seem to want to think that Spiritualism 
led to my nervous or brain debilitation. I want to say to you 
that Spiritualism had nothing whatever to do with it, and that 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 217 

it would have been all the same to me if I had never heard of 
Spiritualism. 

(d) "Some suppose that my disposition to read, in search 
of information, had much to do with it, but I do not see that 
the reading had anything to do with it. 

(e) "A number of years ago I met with very disappoint- 
ing financial reverses, which may have had some tendencies in 
hastening the mental aberrations; and it may be that had not 
so much to do with it either. For some people who know noth- 
ing of Spiritualism, or books, or financial reverses, meet with 
conditions similar to mine before they reached four-score years. 
And, strange as it may seem to some, there have been a great 
many people who have had something the matter with their 
brains, so the machine would not go just right quite a while 
before they reached a century of years. But I am over it all 
now, and I am glad of it." 

Denton, 

553-J. At the same seance, said: 

(a) "I suppose you were not looking for me now. Well, 
when I do come, it is to try to say something of benefit to 
somebody. 

(&) "It has often been wondered if there be such thing as 
pets in spirit life — birds and other things. Yes, we have here 
anything we desire. Do you know that birds are very intelli- 
gent; not only intelligent, but very spiritual? They think, they 
reason and think, and they talk with one another. Birds un- 
derstand each other as spirits. Birds are in spirit life. Do you 
know that some people cannot reason or think as well as a 
bird does?" 

Seance No. 42. 

May 18, 1900. 

554. Mrs. Cummings again present. Mr. Greenup absent. 

Denton. 

555. We hear the voice of Sam in the cabinet, saying: 
"Professor Denton is first on programme to-night." Then this 
spirit did emerge from the cabinet and took his position at a 
point on the carpet between the secretary and southeast cor- 
ner of the cabinet, where the spirits now generally stand for 
oratory, and in exceedingly strong voice, said: 

(a) "Friends, it may be of interest to you and the world 
that I say something more about magnetic healing; and, to 
begin, I shall assert that there is more power in magnetism 
than any of you with all of your experience may be able even 
to conceive, and this assertion, you will find after a while, to 



218 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

be a fact. You will find also that this great force is suscep- 
tible of both rightful and wrongful use. You will find that 
many claim this magnetic healing power who do not have suf- 
ficient knowledge of all the laws governing its application to 
use it aright, and, consequently, do mischief rather than good. 
But a wise, judicious use very often results in great benefit to 
patients. 

(b) "I have met many spirits of higher spheres who say 
that they have, by this power, healed many people by working 
through physical channels. In fact, they say that healing, if 
done at all, is done by spirit use of magnetic force. They say 
that medicine is not intended for a good healing condition of 
man, and much of the medical practice on man you would not 
allow used on your hogs. And when you come to count the 
matter over, you will find that medical treatment sends more 
subjects to the graveyard than the magnetic in spite of all 
ignorance of the laws of magnetic forces. Before magnetic 
healing becomes a great success, the people have to learn a 
great deal more about it. They have to learn what conditions 
are necessary and how to have proper conditions, and then be 
brave enough to go to work and make the conditions whereby 
spirit force and wisdom can reach physically sick mortals." 

Wesley Aber, 

556. Standing at the writing-desk, took up a tablet, began 
writing, and, while writing, talked rather briskly with anima- 
tion and power of voice, saying: 

(a) "I suppose Professor Denton has given you a good 
talk upon his theme, and I wish to say that there are many peo- 
ple who believe that Thomas Paine, George Washington, Thom- 
as Jefferson, Christopher Columbus, and other persdnages did 
exist because someone has so written, and history says so. 
Spiritualism comes upon its facts. We ask people to receive 
our statements of facts. The} refuse to do so. We ask them 
to come and see the facts. They refuse to do that. We ask 
them if they believe there are such cities as Boston, New York, 
London, etc. 'Oh, yes, we believe that. John Jones said he was 
there and saw them.' But John Jones also said: 'When I was 
out in Boston I attended materializing seances, and there I saw 
George Washington and John Pierpont just as vividly and real- 
istic as you now see John Jones.-' 

(ft) " 'Well, sir, you might have been to Boston if there was 
such a city, but your lies about materialization spoil everything 
you say as to all matters.' 

(c) "So, friends, your neighbors treat you. You are all 
right just as long as you pay the preacher; but if you go to a 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 219 

seance and pay the medium, you are at once doomed to eternal 
damnation. 

(d) "I have now written two pages, which writing finishes 
up my article, and I hope it will do some good." 

557. Here are two hundred and fifteen words spoken 
while one hundred and fifty-five words were written. The writ- 
ing is at paragraph 1249. 

(a) These three writings contain six hundred and sixty- 
nine words, and the three spoken efforts six hundred words. 

(b) There seems to be no value to this speaking only as a 
peculiar test in support of the genuineness of the writing to 
some parties in the circle who had not experienced this writing 
done under any extraordinary crucial test conditions, and that 
the reader may have 'a slight idea of the pains taken by these 
spirits to remove every doubt that may be lurking in the inves- 
tigator's mind. 

558. Now comes the artist in his usual way, at the arena 
table, and makes a diagram of a school-building, designed, per- 
haps, to accompany Zelda's writing. (1211.) 

559. While the artist at the table was making the draw- 
ing, the spirit Dr. Reed stood in the cabinet door and said : 

(a) "Friends, the artist is making an illustration of some- 
thing that is of much interest and usefulness to all people." 

560. Nine women forms of various heights, sizes, and ap- 
pearances, but all in white garments, one after another, came 
forth, walked or glided about the room, each one whispering its 
name and identifying itself to its friends and relatives in the 
circle. 

561. Then one, in the similitude of a man, stood forth and 
said: "How do you all do? My name is Joseph Brown, ex- 
mayor of St. Louis. I find this Spiritualism is true. I am glad 
I knew what I did of it. I found fraud, but more truth than 
fraud." 

562. Following this spirit, one stood out, saying: "I am 
George Brown. My brother was just now here." 

Seance No. JfS. 

May 20, 1900. 

563. Dr. Schellhous, now one of the regular circle, for a 
tedious while having been preparing manuscript for a publi- 
cation on ethics, and the Doctor's interest in Spiritualism 
prompted 

Professor Benton 

564. To make some remarks of personal nature toward 
Dr. Schellhous, in which he said: 

(a) "We feel very thankful toward the good brother 



220 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Schellhous for his manifest interest in our work here. We see 
that his long-time work on a publication is nearly done, and we 
hope that he may derive some remuneration for his long labor 
before he leaves the body, for we deem his work would do much 
good to the thinking world. 

(&) "Now the thought of the Doctor's work on ethics pre- 
sents me with the thought to say a word upon the ethical status 
of your country, and the world, for that matter. 

565. "While the vulgar phrase, 'To live and let live,' is 
expressive of true ethics, the actual practice of your world is, 
'Live and let die. 9 In your own self-lauded great country, thi» 
is almost the universal practical aphorism, 'Live and let die.' 

566. "This is the whole thought of your common politics, 
'Live and let die.' Let the party gods live, though all else 
should die. This is politics, and you waste your time, you waste 
your life, you waste everything, fooling with politics. You 
waste your very breath talking politics. You propose a reform; 
all right, but the moment you base it on politics, it becomes 
'Live and let die.' As long as the ethical feeling of a people 
is 'Live and let die,' there is but little hope of better conditions. 

567. "In order for conditions of earth to be changed, this 
ethical feeling of the people must be changed. There must be 
a different feeling educated into the people. For 'Live and let 
die' is the spirit of war, and those who follow me here this 
night are here with their presence to sanction what I tell you 
now. 

(a) "I say to you that a spiritual life, a life of spirituality, 
is the antithesis of 'Live and let die,' is the antithesis of the 
spirit of war. When you practice the feeling expressed in the 
aphorism, 'Do unto others as you would have then\ do unto 
you,' and the negative form, 'Do not unto others what you 
would not have them do unto you,' you are cultivating a spirit- 
uality that will stand to your credit in the great book of life, 
eternally, and the reciprocal 'well done' will be pleasant to you 
as age on age you pass along. 

(&) "If you would have others help you, and you so help 
others, your very acts help yourself. You help yourself in even 
trying to help others. In all this you are doing good — 'casting 
bread upon the waters,' not only for yourself, but at some time 
to become food for those longing, hungering therefor. Your 
efforts for good of the earth-plane do not cease their effects at 
your transition. For all good and bad acts and intentions are 
recorded here [see "Psychic Ether," R. V., 2541-2548], and the 
Doctor's book treats to live a spiritual life, and that must be 
followed by a better ethical feeling somewhere, sometime." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 221 

George the First. 

568. The voice of Sam in the cabinet: "Now comes one 
George the First." And thereupon one comes from the cabi- 
net, of fine form and appearance, and rather weak voice at first, 
but increasing to good oral tones, saying: 

(a) "I am George the First, of England. I am happy to 
be here at this time, and I am also happy to say that I am very 
glad of this wonderful privilege. When I was in the earth-life, 
I little dreamed of this possibility, much less of its practical 
reality. 

(b) "By the kindness of the good managers [controls] in 
there, I am here. Of course none of you would know me except 
as you find in history. I am here, however, and while here I 
am not in England. I am not in favor of that war of hers, 
either. I am not now in favor of any war. I have been here 
a long time, and have learned how widely a warlike feeling 
is from a feeling of pure civilization. How terribly reverse its 
tendencies to a spirituality desirable to have in the great spirit 
world. I can see no humane purpose whatever on the part of 
England in her present war except that which the lion gener- 
ally has for his prey. Please excuse me, for I can hold this 
form no longer. Good-night." 

Napoleon the First. 

569. Voice of Sam in the cabinet: "Look out for Napoleon 
the First." Immediately a form, in good strong make-up and 
with fair voice, said: 

(a) "Friends, I am that Napoleon, and I am pleased to 
meet you mortals, though but a moment, in this way. I was 
here with George, and I thought I would like to follow him in 
a simple sanction. You know of our histories. I hope the 
artist here will be able to give you my picture at some time. 
It may be my privilege to again meet you here, but I cannot 
tarry longer now." 

570. A brother to Dr. Schellhous very vividly presents his 
form, to the Doctor's great joy. This spirit says: 

(a) "My brother, this is glorious. I wish many more could 
come en rapport here and stand again before their friends of 
earth. I am so glad, brother, that you have found this great 
truth so grandly realized to you. 

(b) "Our father and mother are here rejoicing with me, 
for all that have left the earth are here reunited. We are glad 
of your work. It will go on when you get over here, and how 
sweetlv vou will enter here when the 'bv and bv' shall come." 



222 BEYOND THE VAIL. 



571. The chemical control, appears at the arena table, 
takes a tablet therefrom, saying: "I am glad this seance is 
going on so nicely as it is. Then, taking the tablet with him 
to the speaker's station at south side of the room, and there 
saying, "I am going to write now." Then, with tablet in left 
hand, in sight of the circle, made his first writing on the sub- 
ject of the condition of one in spirit life who is a mere spiritist. 
(See paragraph 1250.) 

Josephine Bonaparte. 

572. There now comes a materialization having the ap- 
pearance of a woman, dressed in garments of dazzling white, 
except a waist sash of purple; speaking fairly good English, but 
in a whisper, said: 

(a) "I am Josephine, that you spoke of when the Emperor 
was here a few moments ago. 

(o) "I am somewhat en rapport with Victoria. After I had 
passed some shadowy vales in spirit and become enabled to 
behold the more cerulean, it seemed to be for me to have some 
mundane experience in such way as to benefit your world a lit- 
tle, help the great cause of this eternal truth to engage the 
attention of the people of earth, and it seemed I could do much 
of all this by getting Victoria's attention. 

(c) "And so, after quite a struggle, my charge began to 
realize the presence of her beloved gone before. And my dear 
friend Victoria has worked for the cause as far as the unfolded 
condition of her people would allow; and, as for herself, many 
things occur that, were it possible for her people to, acquiesce, 
she would have otherwise, but she is growing old and fast los- 
ing her hold of earth, and I am waiting, watching, for soon the 
boatman will transplant the faithful in a long reign to these 
shores, and I shall meet her here. 

(d) "This is some of my work. And now I have a dear 
friend who desires to reach her parents, who reside in Wash- 
ington, and she asks me to help her to do so in order that the 
pure morals of Spiritualism may reach and inspire more human 
hearts to receive and practice." 

573. Frankie Schellhous gathers a bouquet of dowers 
from the writing-desk and tosses them to her father in token 
of thanks for furnishing the text of the evening, to-wit, 
"Ethics." 

574. Following this very interesting episode between a 
father bowing under the weight of years in the mortal and his 
spirit daughter of spirit life, standing to view in temporary 
rehabiliment, comes one more brilliant, if possible, and, in all 



BEYOND TEE VAIL. 223 

the personality of young womanhood, said: "I am Hortense." 

575. And immediately little Alice Greenup parts the cur- 
tains and stands to view in the parting, and, answering to her 
father's questions, said in her childish way: u Oh, we play.; we 
have a nice time. Look! don't you see I have grown some?" 

John Beeson, 

576. Our old neighbor, stands again before us. He is get- 
ting to be able to talk, not loudly, but in an undertone, conver- 
sational way, saying: "I find this to be a great deal different 
and greatly much better than I had ever conceived possible. 

(a) "This privilege here is one far beyond the common 
conception of man. Since I have come to realize my condition, 
I have met some of my old neighbors. I met Mr. Edwards. We 
used to have much enjoyment in each other's society. Our mor- 
tal careers ended very much alike. Our brains are clear now 
as when in youth. My friend, Mr. Edwards, was a good man. 
He had and has now a good mind, quite well cultivated, and he 
is getting on over here very well indeed. 

(b) "I am doing much better than might have been hoped. 
I was rather progressive, and desirous to have the truth. No, 
it is no hotter for me than for some others. 

577. "I met our old neighbor Mr. Lindsay, but it is up- 
hill pulling for him. 

578. "I met our genial friend and neighbor Sumner Gas- 
away. He is doing finely and greatly delighted with the favor- 
able surprise this side has been to him. He was not such a 
hard-shell anyhow. He felt a tender care for humanity. This, 
more than his religion, was to his credit here." 

579. "I met our old friend Lute Hodgskins. Poor fellow! 
He is still looking about whenever there is a prospect for 
whisky. 

580. "I met old Uncle Hi Mitchell. He is getting to be 
quite a bright spirit. He was, at heart, a good man. He did 
what he thought would help others beside himself, and noth- 
ing intended to injure anyone. He now gets along gloriously. 

581. "Squire Nichols not in good condition. I have met 
many others, but my time is called, and I must go back. Good- 
night." 

582. The spirit Dr. J. B. Lamb, on introduction to Dr. 
Schellhous, said: 

(a) "I am glad to meet you, Doctor, and to form your ac- 
quaintance in this way. I see you are much past the common 
limit (seventy years), and in course of nature you are near to 
the parting of the ways. You may have more work yet to do 
before your coming. I am glad to find you already one of us. 



224 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

When your earth work is done, however, and you have made 
your transition, if you don't see me here, remember me and ask 
for me. There are always messengers ready to answer the 
desires of every new-born soul. These you will see, and any of 
them will put you in communion with me and with anyone 
whom you may desire to find. Your eyes will already be open 
when you reach this side of life. I may write some for this 
new work here, after awhile. Good-night, all." 

583. As O'Brien squalls out through the trumpet, "Good- 
evening, Mr. Pratt," another reaches over his shoulder, and, in 
altogether different tone of voice, salutes aloud through the 
trumpet, "Good-evening, friends," and both spirits vanished. 

584. Someone in the circle incidentally made some remark 
concerning politics, and at this Denton rushed out of the cab- 
inet, saying: "You waste your time on politics. Your common 
politics of to-day has absolutely nothing in it but 'Live and let 
die.' Much blood has been shed in politics, and, oh, friends, 
there will be much more! It is as hard for people to get their 
eyes open on politics as on Spiritualism." 

585. Several other spirits attempted to manifest in speech, 
but it seemed the necessary elements were wanting, and Sam's 
voice in the cabinet closed the entertainment. Thus the voice 
spoke : 

(a) "I met a fellow who is stubborn, who was most awful 
stubborn. Maybe he will come here some time yet, because he 
will find out that he has to before he can advance much. 

(b) "Don't you know that the people of your earth plane 
are hardly half -grown yet? They have not got their eye-teeth 
cut yet, and they have to go through all that trouble and pain. 
You are yet in the savage state. All over your world it 's war, 
war, war, and the smartest man is one who kills the most peo- 
ple and who makes that which will kill the most. 

(c) "The spiritual things of your world don't fight. Flow- 
ers don't fight. You have got to become spiritual. If people, 
when young, would live right, they would live a great deal 
longer." 

Side Seance. 

May 24, 1900. 
• 586. This seance was an extraordinarily brilliant affair 
in phenomena. There was a temperance lecture being deliv- 
ered in town, which gave occasion for the spirit 

Denton 

587. To say: "I see you have a gentleman who is going to 
make the people temperate. Before you do much good in tern- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 225 

perance reform, you have to begin at the fountain head. Preach- 
ing will do no good whatever. 

(a) "It is so strange that so many people will drink in all 
the preacher says. They do not think what kind of man that 
speaker is himself. They forget about those *whited sepulchres.' 

(b) "It needs that these moral preachers should start at 
themselves. But excuse me again. 

(c) "This might be more beneficial. You know there never 
was a crime without some motive. Intemperance occasions 
some crime. Jealousy is the motive for some crime. But the 
criminal, on account of jealousy, must be very ignorant at the 
time. He does not stop to think. They do not think until too 
late. Then the hangman sends them over here. 

588. "Look at the criminal record of India, will you, for 
one moment, and note how white it is, how small in compari- 
son with the dark recorded deeds of your own boasted civiliza- 
tion. Notwithstanding their dense population, India has far 
less crime than you. You send your missionaries over to India 
among a sober people and teach those people temperance by 
spreading wine before them on the 'Lord's table/ of which those 
heathen must learn to drink, and with a solemn unction, before 
the Lord of glory will accept them. I tell you those mission- 
aries had better stay at home. They would not cause so much 
sorrow as they do." 

Judge Wagstajf, 

589. Spirit, addressing Mr. Pratt, said: 

(a) "Good-evening, sir. How do you do? I am getting to 
be very much elated with this open door, but it seems there 
are a great many people who cannot see through how widely 
soever the door be open, even on our side. Mr. Pratt, when 
you get over here, you will no longer be old. You will then 
soon feel a realization of yourself as when in your life prime. 

(V) "I wish Dr. Schellhous could be on this side just one 
little while, and then be back in physical to tell of this world 
to your world some time before he makes the final change. 

(c) "This is a great affair, when you come to know some- 
thing about it, and all the hunting about for words to tell of 
it so mortals can understand is superfluous. I cannot express 
my ideas of it now better than to say I have found that Spir- 
itualism is a great affair and the religions of your world all 
are humbugs." 

Carrie Miller. 

590. As is the custom with women materializations here, 
a spirit of the appearance of a woman, clothed upon in gar- 

bv — 15 



226 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

ments of pure white, but of the general fashion in make and 
pattern. 

(a) So now comes one walking, or, rather, gliding out of 
the cabinet at the southeast corner, gracefully bowing to the 
circle a moment, then, in a whisper, said: "I am Carrie Miller. 

(b) "I have had much experience on this side of life. It 
has been my good pleasure and happy privilege to traverse 
much of this vast field of spirit life. Language fails me to de- 
scribe it to you in any more forcible phraseology than in the 
expression: 'This is beautiful! This is so beautiful! Every- 
where all is beautiful!' 

(c) "The blind one does not realize the grand scenes of your 
world. He cannot behold the faraway mountains, nor, from 
their lofty summits, drink in the grandeur of the wide-extended 
plains below. Nevertheless the glory is there, but only to those 
having eyes to see." 

591. The most important feature of this seance occurred 
on this wise: Forms, very numerous and in great brilliancy, 
male and female, and young, large and small, and in quick 
succession, followed each other into visibility to such extent 
as to be very astoundingly extraordinary, even to those of us 
who have been most familiar with the phenomena here during 
the last dozen years. And the circle wondered how the forms 
could be produced so quickly. Some thought that the same 
form is used for several spirits. This led to a general conver- 
sation in regard to the matter, in the midst of which 

Dr. Reed f 

592. The spirit chemical control, came to visibility sud- 
denly, standing at the orator's point on the carpet, saying: 

(a) "Now, friends, this gives me an opportunity that I 
have been seeking for some time, to speak to the point of your 
discussion, for I have known it to be held by some that fre- 
quently we use the same make-up for a mere clothing, and the 
different personalities simply clothe and unclothe themselves 
with and of the same form. 

(&) "I wish to say, to begin with, that this latter hypothe- 
sis is not true. If you would think a moment, you would soon 
discern that it cannot be a fact; that it is an impossibility in 
the very nature of the case. 

(c) "You will admit that it is this form that expresses to 
your vision the personal identity. 

(d) "You have been enabled here to-night to recognize by 
their forms the different identities that have been presented 
to you. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 227 

(e) "Of the twenty-five that have stood before you, you 
have seen no two to be alike. 

(/) "Now do you not suppose that if it were the same form 
rail the time, it would look the same way at every successive 
.appearance, and would express the same personality all the 
time? 

(g) "Heretofore we have told you how we construct the 
form. We have told you of the elements used and how we 
obtain them. 

(h) "Now, remembering all that, if you could have your 
spirit vision opened so that you could stand with me in that 
cabinet and watch the circling currents of elements come into 
me, and notice their plasticity, you would see me direct the 
currents right on to the spirit and taking the form or mould of 
the spirit, and then the spirit is enabled to hold that form until 
the magnetic and spiritual sympathy of the particles of the 
matter are broken; then instantaneous dissolution of the form 
occurs, and the particles of matter that composed the form 
take the state of general distribution, and the form is com- 
pletely destroyed. So that I have to construct a separate form 
for each case, but the same particles, or some of them, may be 
used in constructing subsequent forms, but this is reconstruc- 
tion, which may be done. 

(i) "When it comes to making up a form for speaking, I 
liave to clothe the vocal organs of the spirit with sufficiency of 
material to vibrate the air to produce the vocal sounds to your 
physical ears, and this is a much more scientific job than you 
mortals can comprehend, but you notice the individuality of the 
voices the same as that of the appearances of the forms. 

(j) "The reader of these works will find elsewhere why it 
necessarily must be that, even in vocalization, there is more 
or less noticeable intonations of the medium's voice, because 
the magnetism by which the plasticity of the particles of mat- 
ter used for the form of the larynx is of the medium, and tends 
to clothe the larynx of the spirit in power of intonation more 
or less in semblance to intonations of the medium's voice; yet, 
taken all together, the individuality expressed is as different 
from that of the medium's speech as that would be of the speech 
of the identity claimed. 

(Jc) "Now you can readily understand that when the ele- 
ments come into me without obstruction, and the magnetic 
state of the medium is most pliable, then T can manipulate the 
elements into forms as fast as I desire; but when the currents, 
like a sluggish stream, move into me and are full of bad mag- 
netisms, I cannot make up the forms near so rapidly nor so well. 

(1) "I hope you will be able to see from this some more 
of the true laws governing in this case. 



228 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(m) "I might say that much also depends on certain condi- 
tions of the manifesting spirit, especially in the matter of vocal- 
ization. You have obserA^ed that vocalization is subject to de- 
velopment, and more rapidly attained by some than by other 
spirits; and some, it seems, cannot get able to vocalize at all.*' 

Seance No. 4-4- 

May 24, 1900. 

593. Mrs. Dr. J. B. Lamb, of Parsons, Kansas, is with us 
again for a few seances, and she seems to be of physical condi- 
tions quite suitable to be utilized in phenomenal seances, and 
her own spirit friends are able to present themselves to her 
and to the circle in her presence to a wonderfully realistic de- 
gree, and so it is on this occasion. The controls put up a mar- 
velous phenomenal display, as they do at all times when they 
have favorable conditions given them. 

Dr. Reed, 

594. The chemical control, standing in the parting of the 
cabinet curtains which is really the cabinet door, now said: 
"Friends, you have heard the reading of the secretary's min- 
utes of last seance. Are you satisfied that they are a suffi- 
ciently truthful report?" 

The circle answer: "We know of no needed correction." 
Secretary: "Doctor, is the report of last seance satisfac- 
tory to all of the spirits who participated in the exercises of 
that evening?" 

Spirit: "We know of nothing that need be added to or 
taken from the minutes, so we pass them as fully satisfactory, 
and hope to be able to present you a successful seance at this 
time, if you keep yourselves in a state to throw \ out good 
conditions." 

Denton 

595. Said: "Friends, we wish we could meet with you 
oftener, but perhaps our meetings are as frequent as is practi- 
cable for the work we have in hand. 'Blessed is he that re- 
ceives nothing, for he is not disappointed/ " 

One of the circle says: "No, we don't expect much." 

Another of the circle: "Well, I don't see how anybody at- 
tending these seances can come here expecting nothing, for we 
always have abundance given us." 

First party: "Yes, but the spirit is meaning from a mate- 
rial standpoint." 

Spirit: "I do mean from a material standpoint; and 
blessed is he that expects and receives something, for he is 
lucky." 



BEYOND THE VAIL 



229 




HENRY A. LAMB. 



596. As Denton returned into the cabinet at the south- 
east corner, the artist came out of the cabinet at the north- 
west angle of the cabinet at the arena table, took a sheet of 
sketch paper, had Mrs. Lamb examine it until she expressed 
herself as satisfied beyond any doubt that the paper was en- 
tirely clear. Then the artist placed the paper upon the table, 
and immediately began moving his hands over the paper and 
blowing as though sprinkling water from his mouth on to the 
paper, and in the usual time for making a picture, some sixty 
to ninety seconds, he had made this one and presented the 
same to the circle. As the spirit began making the portrait, he 
said to Mrs. Lamb: "Say, lady, what you give if I make some 
of your folks?" And Mrs. Lamb said: a Oh, what could I give?" 
And the spirit said: "Good-will is all we ask." And she said: 
"Well, certainly. I should feel so thankful." 

(a) And all the circle, on seeing the portrait, full life- 



230 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

size bust form, exclaimed: "Henry Lamb!" And Mrs. Lamb y 
so soon as she recovered her self-possession sufficiently to 
speak, said: "Oh, my boy Henry! That picture is so like 
to my dear Henry. My joy is unbounded. To know that our 
dear ones do still live in such glorious reality!" 

597. Dr. J. B. Lamb then came out of the cabinet, an excel- 
lent materialization and approached near to Mrs. Lamb, his 
widow, saying: "I am glad you are here, ma. This is a grand 
treat. Henry is here." And then went back into the cabinet. 

Henry Lamb. 

598. Straightway another form came out of the cabinet,, 
which the whole circle at once recognized and exclaimed: 
"Henry Lamb!" because of resembling the portrait just made. 

599. The spirit said to Mrs. Lamb: "Mother, do you see 
me now?" 

Mrs. Lamb: "Oh, yes. My son Henry. I am so glad to 
meet you." 

Spirit: "Mother, you have my picture made here to-night. 
What do you think of it?" 

Mrs. Lamb: "Oh, Henry, that is your picture. Nobody 
would deny that. And I am so glad, my dear boy, that it is 
possible for you and pa to meet me here." 

His Biography Considered. 

600. If the reader please, let us leave the seance-room for 
a time; and, in order that we may see more fully why the spirits 
present this case for contemplation in studying the conditions 
of spirit life and the effect of the earth environments N on those 
conditions, let us learn something of the biography in the case : 

(a) Lieutenant Henry Allen Lamb, quartermaster 22d Kan- 
sas Volunteers, was born in Osage Mission, now St. Paul r 
Neosho County, Kansas, November 25, 1867. 

(&) Upon the record of the Labette County bar are resolu- 
tions, among which are the following: "Shortly after his birth 
his parents moved to Parsons, Kansas, where he received his 
education in the public schools. 

(c) "Henry was a great reader and a self-educator. When 
he became old enough to become useful in the office, he assisted 
his father and brother in publishing The Eclipse, with which he 
has been associated for the past eighteen years. Ambitious to 
a high degree, and valuing a good fame rather than great 
wealth, and having both musical talent and a love for truth, 
he was undecided as to whether his life should best be devoted 
to music or to law. He studied the former at the Boston Con- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 231 

servatory and the latter at the Law Department of the Kansas 
University, from which he was graduated in 1897, after which 
he was admitted to practice law in the State courts. 

(d) "He entered the service of his country in the Spanish- 
American War, on May 8, 1898. His regiment was camped 
around the national capital during the hot months of July and 
August, 1898, and while there he was taken sick and removed 
to the Providence Hospital in Washington, D. C, and after a 
short illness there, died August 25, 1898. A few days more, and 
his body was brought to the city of his childhood, where, among 
his grief-stricken family and lamenting friends, his body was 
buried in Oakwood Cemetery, Parsons, Kansas. 

(e) "We of this bar who knew him best knew him as one 
w r hose mind was busy with the greater problems of human 
thought; of the destiny of man, whose soul he believed to be 
immortal; of a future life, in which he believed that 'we shall 
know as we are known'; of free speech and thought and press, 
which he welcomed as the proclamation of mental freedom; of 
the triumph of a republican form of government, which he be- 
lieved secure in the hands of a free enlightened people, and in 
whose patriotism he had unbounded confidence; and of philos- 
ophy's divergent contentions, where, craving rest from prosaic 
toil, his mind found pleasure by soaring into fancy's fields of 
idealism." 

(/) Henry was a Spiritualist. He attended several of the 
seances for the publication "Rending the Vail." 

601. If the reader will carefully note all of the experi- 
ences of this family on earth and what is reported from the 
Doctor and his son Henry to Mrs. Lamb, of their conditions in 
the spirit world, it will certainly be of great benefit in teach- 
ing how rich is the reward in future life of a life of spirituality 
on earth, and of what good in Spiritualism. Reader, let us con- 
sider just one moment: The ruthless hand of disease contract- 
ed while serving his country sent the lifeless body home to 
mother. "But oh!" said the mother heart, "this is not my boy 
Henry that went away. Where is he?" 

602. She asks all Christendom: "Where is my boy Hen- 
ry?" And the auswer from every pulpit in the world is just 
what Colonel Ingersoll exclaimed: "I don't know." And to- 
day the great question is asked of the clergy at almost every 
hamlet in America: "Where is my boy whose lifeless body was 
sent back to me from Cuba, from Porto Rico, from the far-off 
Philippines?" And the disconsolate answer comes: "I don't 
know." "And it doth not vet appear what we shall be." 
(1 John 3:2) 

603. But Mother Lamb has found her boy and she knows 



232 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

where he is and what he is, and that he is living in more beauti- 
ful conditions than she ever knew to be his on earth. 

60i. Look up all these references and find out what Henry 
says and writes to his mother about his happy condition now 
and the beautiful world in which he is, and exclaim with Mother 
Lamb: "What a beautiful philosophy! What a glorious real- 
ity! My boy lives, and in more than any regal splendor ever 
enjoyed by mortal man!" 

605. Now comes the spirit Dr. Keed to the arena table 
and picks up a tablet, saying: "Mr. Secretary, your minutes 
show that you thought I was not up on time in my last writ- 
ing. Now see what I can do." 

Secretary: "All the circle count pulse when the spirit 
says, 'Ready.' " 

Spirit: "Ready." 

Pulse count begins at the word. Spirit tears leaf from 
the tablet, one page written. "Ready." Count and writing an- 
other page, tears and writes on a third, fourth, and part of a 
fifth page. 

606. Here are five hundred and fifty-four words written in 
as nearly one minute as the circle could estimate from beat of 
pulse. The secretary counted eighty-four pulse-beats from be- 
ginning to close of writing. Dr. Schellhous counted fifty-four 
beats as the actual time of writing. Some of the circle counted 
sixty pulse-beats. Secretary's pulse was running at about sev- 
enty per minute. The secretary counted nine pulse-beats dur- 
ing the writing of the first page, which has one hundred and 
thirty-two words on it. This would be a little over the rate 
of 1,000 words per minute. 

607. Whatever others may say or think of the matter, 
this scribe considers this feature of psychic writing as abso- 
lutely positive proof scientifically determined of the claims of 
Spiritualism for the phenomenon of materialization. The read- 
er will find this writing at paragraphs 1251-1254. 

608. One who did not give his name came out of the cab- 
inet laughing, and said: 

(a) "Well, I see the darned fools ain't all dead yet. By the 
Holy Book, I 'm glad I 'm here. When I got over here, I did not 
know where I was. When I awoke, I was here. We have flow- 
ers over here. You need not think you people are all that have 
flowers. I have the advantage of you people." 

Circle: "How is that?" 

Spirit: "I died first." 

Circle: "What were you before you came here?" 

Spirit: "Oh, I was just myself." 

Circle: "What is vour name?" 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 233 

Spirit: "It is not best for a fellow to let his name be 
Imown at all times. Ha! ha! ha!" 

Circle: "Why?" 

Spirit: "You may be fleeing from justice, you know. Ha! 
ha! ha! Good-night." 



L t> j 



General Robert E. Lee, 

609. Speaking very deliberately and cautiously, said: 

(a) I am glad to be here and to see and meet you all this 
evening. 

(b) "I find many people who do not believe this great truth. 
And strange to say, there are many on the spirit side who do 
not believe it. Of course all, sooner or later, after arriving 
here, must find the truth. But the teaching of the earth life 
follows many here and in their stubbornness they presume 
their refusal to see settles the whole affair. But you, friends, 
will in all this at least have the start. 

(c) "I find that Spiritualism is a summing up of the good 
truth in all teaching, and that it is destiny that one must by 
and by become spiritualized, and one cannot advance until he 
is willing to accept spiritualizing influences. You must be will- 
ing to do what Nature would have you do. You must do what 
Nature has given you to do. You must obey the commands of 
Nature. On this line a great many spirits are getting on to 
true ethical principles. Not perverted or abnormal, but true 
Nature." 

Andrew Jackson (Old Hickory) 

610. Has changed his mind since the bnttle of New Orle- 
ans. Standing to the view of the circle, this spirit said: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. I am much pleased to have this 
privilege. It is not accorded to many mortals, and many spirits 
know not of it. I am glad you, friends, are in such work. I 
wish more people could realize this work. You people have 
developed to a spiritual plane. That plane is above the war 
plane. I do not now believe war ever did your country any 
good. I now see that you could govern better some other 
way. And such other way would not leave such immoral 
consequences. " 

611. A spirit having the appearance of a young woman 
dressed in white, elegantly, neatly, and tidily dressed, parted 
the curtains and stepped through the parting, fronting Mrs. 
Lamb, and said: "Do you see me, mother? This is Emma. 
Please bear a message to Frankie, but you keep the baby." 

612. An affecting meeting when daughter-in-law meets 
mother-in-law, and they converse of familiar affairs to them. 
Emma and Frankie had just made a beginning of the earth voy- 



234 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

age together, but Emma was suddenly called away, leaving art 
infant to be cared for by other faian mother; and the spirit asks 
grandmother, who says, "Yes, Emma, the baby is to stay 
with Die." 

613. The spirit returned into the cabinet for a moment,, 
and again came out to the speaker's point on the carpet, stand- 
ing near to the secretary, and said: 

(a) "This is Emma again. The good spirits in manage- 
ment here permit me to embrace this rare occasion to voice a 
message to my near and dear ones of my strong attachments.. 
I believe it will help to bear my strong feelings into a milder 
form. 

(&) "I was called so suddenly away from my dear ones.. 
Tell mother for me that I desire that she take and keep my 
dear little babe. I want her to raise it. It will be better that 
it be in the care of one that will inculcate spirituality. Mother 
knows so much of this, and otherwise my babe might not share 
an opportunity that would be in harmony with its needs. The 
dear child! I am with it, I caress it as real to me as could pos- 
sibly be, but it cannot sense my presence. But the child, the 
dear little child, the sweet, sweet babe, how my soul is with 
it! It seems I cannot get away from my precious little jewel. 
I was called so soon from the physical, and my dear husband, 
my Frankie, how I would enjoy to meet him as this night I 
meet mother here! 

(c) "I see good, kind friends all about me on this side. 
They seem to be waiting to lead me on to somewhere of quiet 
rest. But, kind sir, I feel that I should go to my babe. I know 
it is all right. It is in hands that care for it better than would 
I. But there are no such yearnings anywhere on earth, as its 
mother has for her own little one. I must go now to my own 
beloveds. Kind sir, please tell my mother all this and I thank 
you, sir, and all here. Good-night." And instantly the spirit 
was gone away. 

614. Ed Ellis and Mark Patterson, of Parsons, Kansas,, 
known to Mrs. Lamb before their transition, came to the condi- 
tion of visibility to mortal sight, announced their names, and 
vanished. 

615. Another strange spirit stood in visible form, saying: 
"I am Kizer, Sam Kizer. I was shot on the street. Don't you 
want to buy a dog?" 

616. One came out singing. Then said: "My name is 
Willie Goble, of Ferris, Texas. I was drowned." 

We may hear from these spirits again. 

Seance No. J+5. 

May 27, 1900. 

617. Minutes of last seance read and passed to the spirits 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 235 

for criticism. Dr. Reed speaks of the large floral offering by 
the circle, and feels thankful for them on account of their aro- 
mas and emblematic tokens, commends the promptness and 
faithfulness of the crcle, and hopes a good seance for to-night.. 

Professor Denton. 

618. (a) "We ask you, 'How do you all do?' but we are 
always well. We have no sickness over here. We do not have 
to hunt up jobs at which to labor for our sustenance. We al- 
ways have plenty to do. No trouble about that; and when you 
reach this side you will never need to be idle. None are idle 
here unless they are too indolent to bestir themselves, and we 
have plenty such. I meet some such almost every hour. If 
you be of those who do not care, when you arrive here, we just 
leave you alone in some dark condition until you get tired of 
remaining low. 

Drones. 

619. "A great many persons of your world get so used to 
doing nothing that not only their bodies, but their very souls 
get down with laziness, and when they get here are just as 
useless as they were on earth. They were not workers in any 
way there, and they are drones over here, except they cannot 
live off of somebody else. There are no tramps here. The mo- 
ment they like tramping for a job, they find the job ready and 
waiting. 

Calls the Secretary Down. 

620. "That was an independent voice the circle heard 
speaking in the cabinet. All those are independent except that 
of Bessie. 

(a) "And now I don't wish to criticise the secretary, but 
I do wish to say that the larynx used for the independent voices 
is also independent. There is no such thing as impersonation 
done here. It is independent, absolutely, and I want these 
books to prove to the world that there is no impersonation of 
the medium in these forms here. I want this matter so clearly 
stated that it cannot be misunderstood." 

As the Secretary Understands It. 

621. (a) Just here this scribe would make this note, to- 
wit: That he has been taught all along that one use of the 
medium in making these forms is that his peculiar natural mag- 
netism can be utilized by wise scientific spirits in constructing 
the temporary forms, and that the medium's magnetism is so 
used. And Dr. Reed says "the particular use of the medium's- 



236 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

magnetism is to give plasticity to the elements used for the 
forms." • 

(b) And as to the larynx of the vocalizers, the magnetic' 
emanations of the medium's vocal organs are of necessity also 
used in like manner. 

(c) This scribe has all the while thought that the magnetic 
emanations of both the medium and circle are used in construct- 
ing the temporary forms. If this is not right, the secretary 
would like to be corrected. 

622. Here we have the voice of Sam in the cabinet, saying: 
"There now, Mr. Nikilum, you got tooken town vonce, hugh?" 

Secretary: "That is all right, Sam. We are here to be 
corrected when we get mistaken, but I tried to say that the 
magnetic emanations of the medium's larynx are used in con- 
structing the larynx of the materialization for vocalizing. I 
did not intend to convey the remotest idea that the medi- 
um's larynx is used to make the vocal oral speaking of the 
materializations." 

As to Sam's voice, sometimes this spirit is in materialized 
form before the circle, sometimes the medium stands before the 
circle entranced, and is used by different spirits just as any 
other trance medium, and like other trance mediums his vocal 
organs are used, and the voice is that of the medium, except as 
to Sam, and Sam's voice is always just one certain unmistakable 
peculiarity, whether in his materialized condition or whether 
he be Using the medium in trance, in which latter case the 
words come out of the medium's mouth; and this is also the 
case when Sam speaks in the cabinet. Whenever the Words 
of Sam emanate from the medium's mouth, Sam has often told 
us he forms a larynx inside of the cavity containing the medi- 
um's larynx, and uses all the other vocal organs of the medium 
— that is, having his own larynx materialized about the medi- 
um's larynx modifies the voice into exactly the tones of Sam's 
voice. 

Sam: "Dot ish right. 'Magneticum emanationlems.' You 
got 'em right now." (R. V., 2412-2415.) 

Henry A. LamVs First Writing. (1217.) 

623. (a) Now we hear conversation in the cabinet: "Yes, 
I think it would be a good idea to try that now, while the forces 
are at the best." Another voice: "All right." And immedi- 
ately the cabinet curtains part in the center, and a form stands 
in the parting. Some one of the circle exclaims : "Henry 
Lamb!" The form says to Mrs. Lamb: "Do you see me, mother?" 

(b) Mrs. Lamb: "Yes, Henry, but not so distinctly." 

(c) Then the spirit stepped to the writing-desk, began look- 
ing over the tablets, and saying: "I am going to try to write. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 237 

J don't know that I can, but have been practicing on the slates 
and that may help me." Then began to write, also talking: "It 
seems I don't write much faster than when on earth, in the 
body." Tears one leaf out and says: "Do you see me plainly, 
mother?" 

Mrs. Lamb: "Not so clearly." 

Then the spirit moved out to a point directly in front of 
his mother and began another page, saying: "How is that, 
mother?" 

Mrs. Lamb: "Oh, I see you plainly now, Henry, as plainly 
as I could wish." 

Spirit: "All right." Tears another leaf and begins a third 
to a few linos, and tears that out. Then says: "That is all I 
can write now, mother." 

Then the spirit Reed said to the spirit Henry: "Please hand 
to me your papers, and I will deliver them to the secretary." 
Reed, reaching his hand out of the cabinet, receives the papers 
and goes out at southeast corner of cabinet, and delivers the 
papers to the secretary, and at the same time Henry went into 
the cabinet at northwest corner of the cabinet, and Reed moves 
backward from secretary into the cabinet. The whole process 
of this writing from the time that Henry first appeared until 
Reed had backed into the cabinet was less than three minutes, 
and the reader will find the writing at paragraph 1217. 

624. During the time of this writing, Henry said to her: 
"Oh, mother, this opportunity is so grand, so glorious! And 
father is here, and sister, too, and Emma. You may see us all. 
Glorious truth for you to know now, but when you cross to 
our side, and we all meet in eternal reunion over here, it will 
be joy unspeakable and full of glory." 

625. To relax the intense nervous tension of Mrs. Lamb 
and of the circle produced by this wonderful meeting of the son 
from immortal glory and his mother yet on earth, comes Father 
King's voice through the trumpet, and exceedingly loud: "Good- 
evening," and lets the trumpet drop and is gone. Quickly 
O'Brien seizes the trumpet, and shouts: "That fellow sounds 
like a braying mule." And Sam reaches out of the cabinet and 
takes hold of O'Brien's coat-skirt, pulling. 

O'Brien: "Hold on back there." 

Sam: "Come back in here." 

O'Brien: "When I get ready." 

Sam, pulling vigorously: "Now." 

O'Brien: "I guess I ain't the boss." And retires. 

Henry again comes to visibility at the writing-table, gath- 
ers therefrom a large bouquet that lay on the table, and gave 
it into his mother's hands, and vanished. Immediately the spirit 



238 BE70ND THE VAIL. 

Dr. J. B. Lamb, 

626. Henry's father, stood in the parting of the curtains 
at the cabinet door, beckoning toward Mrs. Lamb, and she at 
once recognized the spirit, saying: "Yes, I see you, pa." And 
the spirit stepped to the orator's position, and in clear, distinct 
oral tones, said: 

(a) "I am so glad that Henry was able to write. (1217.) 

(b) "I would that many more could be happy in this truth. 
They have the opportunity to know, but they will not embrace 
it. It was once something of a puzzle to me, but I was honest 
about it to myself. 

(c) "I believed in natural law. I believed if this be truth, 
it must be that there is law for it somewhere, because I be- 
lieved everything to be natural. And, after awhile, I realized 
the mighty truth. I tried to benefit all by teaching to live so 
as to obtain spirituality. 

(d) "If all were spiritualized, there would be no fear among 
you. We have no fear. All is harmony over here. 

(e) "There is no need of war. You know there is a great 
deal in knowing what is right. Many times I helped people 
when I was in the mortal. Now all the time I am helping the 
needy and leading them on. 

(f) "Do you know that you are educating many on this 
side? They seek this channel. They think they can get what 
they need better in this way than from us; and in many cases 
that is true. So you here are actually schooling spirits that 
have passed on. Goodnight." Dr. Lamb returned into the cab- 
inet, and for a moment the circle heard Sam talking with him. 

627. Then several women forms in succession and in won- 
derful brilliancy came out and took of the flowers that were 
upon the writing-table, and distributed them all round the cir- 
cle. And a stranger to the circle came with a message of expe- 
rience, speaking thus : 

Mary Jackson. 

628. "My name is Mary Jackson. 

(a) "I suppose that none of you know me. The spirits here 
asked me to tell you of some of my experience. I asked if any- 
body here knew me. Dr. Reed said he thought not, but that 
need not make any difference. So I thank you all on both sides 
for this opportunity. 

(b) "In the first place, I had a hard time of it when I en- 
tered this life. I was so ignorant of everything. I had to have 
even my clothes furnished me. And yefthe clothiers here do 
furnish me my attire. Even for this dress you see I am in- 
debted in many thanks to these spirit manufacturers. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 239 

(c) "There are those here, I find, who make it a specialty 
to manufacture and furnish clothing adapted for spirits in spirit 
life. And this department here is a great marvel to those who 
-are new-comers to this side. 

(d) "If I could have known some of the facts of this great 
life beyond before I came here, I would have lived differently 
and been better prepared for higher life; and would have 
avoided much of the terribly hard struggle I have had in order 
to reach the comparative degree of light I now enjoy. 

(e) "Oh, this is a grand country when one is able to see 
it — and many poor souls are no better off than I was. But this 
is a grand country, and I find this work here a grand work. I 
never thought anything like this at all possible. 

(/) "I know none of you here, but the Doctor said for me 
to come anyway, and I feel so thankful. Good-night." 

Susie Brook, nee Sargent, 

629. Mrs. Lamb's sister, now in spirit life, stood forth in 
good make-up to Mrs. Lamb's recognition, and with Mrs. Lamb's 
sanction told of having transported a glove from Maine to Par- 
sons, Kansas. Then said: 

(a) "I am a teacher in spirit life now, in one of the depart- 
ments for the blind and deaf. These are not really blind when 
they reach spirit life, but they think they are. Such as were 
for many years or for their entire earth life blind or deaf, or 
I)oth, never having known a sound or witnessed an object, or, 
if so, so long time gone by they cannot realize it, these cases 
suppose they are blind and deaf when they get here. And such 
require tutors especially prepared for that work. I was found 
to be adapted to this line of work, and I have prepared for it, 
and with great delight I lead them on to realize and utilize the 
important faculties of hearing and vision in spirit life." 

630. A spirit in the similitude of a young man, said: , "I 
am Charley Lamb. Tell Frank that I am full of the devil as 
ever." This spirit is a cousin of Dr. Lamb. Frank Lamb, jet 
in the mortal, is a son of Dr. Lamb and brother to Henry. 

Edgar Schellhous 

631. Is recognized by Dr. Schellhous. The secretary had 
written it "Eddie," and the spirit, though several feet away 
from the secretary, and the secretary's note paper was entirely 
concealed so that a mortal at the place of the spirit could not 
possibly have seen the notes, yet the spirit spoke right out to 
the secretary aloud, saying: "My name is Edgar." 



240 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

James L. Greenup, 

632. James L. Greenup (see K. V., 2930) said: 

(a) "I am not a preacher now, anyway not an orthodox. 
I am glad my son there is not. He is happier as he is than an 
orthodox pulpit would have him be. 

(b) "I was a preacher, and I tried, to make a preacher of 
my son. I thought I was right, but w r hen the great transition 
came I soon learned that my preaching had been wrong. I was 
a good man, and thought that my goodness was on account of 
my religion; and being a good man, I was leading a spiritual 
life. I did not then know this. I thought I was living accord- 
ing to the Bible, but I have found that none can live a life ac- 
cording to the Bible. 

(c) "In order to live according to the Bible one would have 
to live several lives: One life as a murderer, 'after God's own 
heart' ; another the life of a bigamist, another the life of a celi- 
bate, another a good life, and another something else. So I was 
only living one of the Bible lives. And my spirituality was in- 
nate to my nature, and not absorbed from the Bible. 

(d) "So the redemption I had to have was to get redeemed 
from the darkening conditions of others reflecting upon me as 
the result of my false orthodox preaching to them." 

Seance No. 46. 

May 31, 1900. 

633. C. M. Schellhous, brother to Dr. E. J. Schellhous, 
present. Dr. E. J. Schellhous, under severe affliction of heart 
trouble, for some three days not able to sit with the circle, but 
his room opens into the seance-room, and that door being open 
leaves the Doctor to view the seance from his couch! 

634. Dr. Keed, expressing sympathy for Dr. Schellhous, 
says: "We have had about all we coulddo to retain the Doc- 
tor in the physical, but I think we have his case well under 
control now, and expect that he will be able to participate with 
us in a very short time. I see no reason why his brother should 
not sit with us at this time." 

635. An anonymous, whom the reader will recognize at 
682, in not a very clear form, but good voice, said: 

{a) "I 'm glad to be here. J have not much to say. You 
have doubtless heard how that a preacher called on a new mem- 
ber to give some of his experience, and the fellow arose and 
said: 'Well, brethren, I hain't much to say. I hain't no talker 
anyway. But I 'm glad to be here. And may the Lord perfect 
ye all, and do what he kin to save sinners.' But I guess I 'm 
not in a religious revival here anyway and had better go quick- 
ly. Good-night." (682.) . 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 241 

Henry LamVs Second Writing. (1221.) 

636. A form stood in the cabinet door which was at once 
recognized by the circle to be Henry A. Lamb, and the form said 
to Mrs. Lamb: "How are you, mother? I am going to write 
a little more now, but shall not be able to finish my subject 
this evening." Then, taking a tablet from the arena table, 
opened it and began writing. Some in the room being slightly 
deaf, for such the spirit wrote with heavy hand so that, as all 
else was made still in the room, all could hear the writing as 
it was being produced as well as see the movements of the 
spirit's hands over the paper. And so the spirit wrote upon and 
tore from the tablet three leaves and took the three leaves of 
manuscript and gave them to the secretary at his desk. And 
the reader will find this writing at paragraph 1222. 

637. Then ten brilliant materializations, all recognized. 

Harry Hodge. 

638. A materialization in the condition of visibility said : 
(a). "I was known as Harry Hodge. Bad company was the 

cause of my being here. I was not so bad by nature, but it was 
my lot to have associates that led me astray. I was afraid to 
die; but I am in spirit life, anyway, and I suppose it is just 
as well. 

(&) "I have had a varied personal experience since here. 
Part of the time I am feeling a little comfortable and pleasant; 
part of the time I have felt very, very sad, wandering about in 
sadness. I was of an active mind, however, and anxious to find 
out where I was at. I find that I am getting better now and 
can begin to appreciate ray new condition. 

(c) "These controls have been desiring me to come in here 
and tell you something about my case, but it was quite a while 
before I would consent to do so; but at last I am here with you. 

(d) "I have not been on this side a very long time; but, 
as I said, I tried to find out about conditions, and my every 
effort has been amply rewarded. In my searchings I have 
learned many things I did not know, which, had I known, would 
have been of great advantage to me and saved me at least some 
of my dark experience. And now, if I could make such things 
known to those in the mortal, it would be of advantage to some 
of them. But when a way is about open, mortals seem not 
inclined to assist. 

(e) "On the other hand, there is always someone trying 
to tear down. I feel happy now that J came. It seems I have 
answered a duty that was mine for the benefit of someone. I 
may call again; I don't know, but for the present I cannot tarry. 
Good-night." 

BV Ifi 



242 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Uncle Tommy Newton, 

639. A very much esteemed neighbor, passed to spirit life 
a few years ago, being of a ripe old age. He was orthodox in 
his religious views, but possessed a very kind disposition. His 
children, especially the boys, do not take strongly to any relig- 
ious course. This spirit in the condition of visibility to the cir- 
cle and directing his conversation to Mr. House to clearly iden- 
tify his personality, and as touching the probability that his 
boys would be glad to know of their father's appearance here, 
said: 

(a) "No. You need not say anything to my boys about 
this. You would waste your breath. My boys are very good 
boys. They are ignorant of this work. I am not come on ac- 
count of my boys. But some time someone will be benefited by 
even my coming in here and letting you hear from me. My 
boys, like myself, will find out about these things when they 
get here." 

Daniel Webster. 

640. One stood in vision range of the circle, saying: 

(a) "Friends, good-evening. This is Daniel Webster. Go 
on. You are in the right. When you know you are in the right, 
then go ahead. Mr. Secretary, take a good look at me, then 
look at my picture for the resemblance." 

641. One stood forth, saying: "This is Richard the Third." 
And slowly faded away. 

Sir Isaac Newton. 

642. When this form was all gone, there gradualiy came to 
visibility in his stead one very different in appearance, saying: 
"This is Sir Isaac Newton. You are doing a great work, a sci- 
entific work that will yet be recognized. And here, too, much 
is being done and will be given to the world that will greatly 
benefit the people." 

643. Then one, standing to our view, said: "I am Napo- 
leon Bonaparte." 

644. We might note that the spirit Belle Concannon, once 
the wife of O. L. Concannon, wanted to know why we had not 
asked that she appear unto us. "Is my name in the other book? 
(K. V., — .) I was with you before, you know. Ho you remem- 
ber me, Mrs. House? This is getting to be to me a beautiful 
country. So I am advancing. It may be for me to say more 
for you ere long." 

645. And the spirit Caroline, identified by Mr. House as 
an old-time schoolmate. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 243 

Seance No. )fi . 

June 3, 1900. 

646. Mr. and Mrs. House not present because of injuries 
of Mr. House, received to-day by the pranks of a cow that he 
was leading by lariat. Dr. Schellhous, quite poorly yet, though 
slowly convalescing, is able to sit in the circle. And Mrs. Lamb 
still with us. Dr. Reed thinks ''conditions not good, but the 
controls will do the best they can." 

Henry LamVs Third Writing. (1220.) 

647. The spirit Henry Lamb is permitted by the controls 
to do his work at first, while conditions are best. So he steps 
out in front of the cabinet, reaches to his left and takes from 
the table a tablet, assumes the attitude of writing, having tab- 
let open in left hand, and right hand over the open tablet. 
Standing in this position, facing his mother and being very 
near to her, he begins to write, and says: "Do you see me, 
mother?" 

Mrs. Lamb: "Yes, Henry, I see very plainly. I see you 
writing." 

Spirit: "Mr. Nixon, you have an error in your minutes, 
as you read your report this evening. Instead of the word 
'school,' as you read- it, you will find by looking at my manu- 
script, is the word 'sleep.' On looking, however, the word in 
his manuscript is "repose." 

648. The spirit tears out a leaf, writes and talks to his 
mother while writing, tearing out the sheets as written upon 
to the number of eight; then places the tablet on the stand, 
picks up the sheets he had written upon and torn from the 
tablet and laid upon the table, arranges the papers in seri- 
atim order according to the writing, walks over to the sec- 
retary, hands the eight sheets of writing to him, and returns 
into the cabinet. This writing is compiled in with this spir- 
it's other writings, beginning at paragraph 1223. Let the 
reader contemplate this case of Henry Lamb as a decided 
answer to Job's question and to the modern question, "If Spir- 
itualism is true, what of it? What good is there in it?" 



fcT 



Denton 

649. Came forth, highly elated over Henry's writing, 
saying: 

(a) "I am sorry of the absentees. Hope Dr. Schellhous 
will be able in a little while to give us more brain force in the 
circle. But I am glad, so glad, of Henry Lamb's great success 
at writing this evening." 



244 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

650. Then John Hancock, Patrick Henry, and Daniel 
O'Brien each identified himself to the circle. 

651. The artist in his usual way makes a bust portrait (No. 
23), life size, that much resembles Kachel Ann John, nee Nixon, 
one of the secretary's sisters, and is a good likeness of that 
spirit as it stands before the circle frequently in materialized 
form. (678.) 

652. Add Weldon identifies to Mr. Pratt. 

Ellen Cooper Clayton, 

653. Mrs. Pratt's mother, says: 

(a) "I have been on this side quite a while. I knew noth- 
ing of this work until I came over here. I don't know what to 
say to you. I am not much at talking in this way. I am very 
glad that my daughter is so much interested in Spiritualism. 
It will be a great help to her when the time comes for her to 
come to this side. I am glad of this great reality. I am glad 
it is so easy for one who wishes to know of this great truth. 
But so many are entirely ignorant of it and do not for one mo- 
ment suppose it possible. 

(b) "Tell my daughter that her paths will not always be 
thorny. The flowers will bloom not far ahead, and there will 
be some nice resting-places while the beautiful scenes go by. 
Tell her that she will not be forgotten. I must go. Good-night." 

Dr. J. B. Lamb, 

654. To appreciate the little lesson this spirit desires to 
give here for the benefit of some who may read this book, it 
may be well to premise that the Doctor, in the earth life, was 
almost always a leader of reforms as they appeared in his own 
communities. That he always had convictions of his own and 
dared express them even in forcible manner. That he was a 
great temperance worker, that he was never a coward of pub- 
lic opinion, that he had the tobacco habit, however, and knew 
it was injurious, but he was not brave enough in this to say, 
"Get thee behind me, Satan." So, on this occasion, after a res- 
idence of nearly ten years in spirit life, he said; 

(a) "I see you are still at work in the good cause. I hope 
more people will get into it before a great while. A great many 
men there have been, that are classed as brave and fearless, 
who have launched their unpopular opinions among men. I am 
glad I am so classed. This example has been of benefit to my 
son. I want to say that I now find it a fact that honesty is the 
best policy. 

{b) "You want to be true to your honest convictions. One 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 245 

who is ashamed of the truth which he has found out cannot 
expect much reward. 

(c) "I don't remember the time when, after I had learned 
a truth and undertaken to inculcate that truth among my neigh- 
bors, that I did not come off victorious. 

(d) "I had one habit: tobacco smoking. Well, friends, ten 
years in spirit life, and I am just over that. 

(e) "God bless you — I don't mean the God of the Church, 
but the god Nature — bless you all in obeying natural demands." 

Lingering Effects of Intem.perate Habits. 

655. The great lesson the spirit would inculcate here is 
that the unnatural appetite created by use of tobacco lingers 
among the spirit's tormenting desires for many years away over 
into spirit life, and that bravery that can conquer such unnat- 
ural cravings while in the mortal will surely have its rich 
reward. 

Seance No.. 48. 

June 7, 1900. 

656. Inclement weather, with lightning and thunder, mod- 
ifies the phenomena, for lightning, at the time a form is made 
up, instantly destroys the form. So that on such occasions the 
spirit can only hold its form during the interim of lightning. 
Mr. House and wife absent, Dr. Schellhous almost to normal 
health, Mrs. J. B. Lamb present for the last seance of this visit, 
and Colonel R. T. Van Horn again present. The spirits Dr. Reed 
and Professor Denton speak of the foregoing items and express 
regret at Mrs. Lamb having to leave us, and welcome the 
Colonel's return. 

Henry A. Lamb 

657. Appears, speaks, and writes, saying: "I had better 
finish my writing for the present. I think I could not so well 
succeed unless mother be present." So the spirit wrote, finish- 
ing his present subject, which writing the reader will find at 
paragraph 1226. 

658. Emma Lamb again in very brilliant self-luminous 
white attire holds a personal interview with her mother-in-law, 
Mrs. Lamb. 

Dr. J. B. Lamb 

659. Stood forth in condition of visibility, addressing his 
widow, Mrs. Lamb, and the two conversed with each other in 
regard to personal affairs as realistic as though they were at 
the time in the mortal. Then the spirit addressed himself to 
Colonel Van Horn as follows: 



246 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(a) "You have many friends here in spirit life, and I ant 
glad you are much on my own plane, not afraid nor ashamed 
1<> know of any truth in Nature's wide domain. 

(b) "When your world makes up its mind that there is an- 
other country beyond, and that a good home over there depends 
on doing right, and gets to work for right because it is right r 
then the right will begin to prevail. 

(c) "Say, Colonel, did you ever stop to think how that man 
always did live? Did you ever contemplate the wonderful work 
of synthetic chemical action in producing the forms that mani- 
fest life? 

(d) "Behold this chemistry construct the most beautifully 
tinted flower and the giant forest tree; the simplest animal cell" 
to highest human earthly status on into spirit condition of the- 
illimitable beyond!" 

660. Another spirit came forth, directing himself to Col. 
Van Horn, and said: "This is Charley Van Horn. See me,. 
father?" 

Colonel: "Yes, Charley, I see you." 

661. And another spirit, facing the Colonel, said: "Hello,. 
Van. Do you recognize Milt McGee?" 

Colonel: "Oh, yes, Milt, I see you very clearly." 
Spirit: "I was with yon the other day at Washington,, 
Colonel." 

662. And yet another to the Colonel said: "Dr. Thome. 
Do you see me, Colonel?" 

Van Morn: "Most certainly I do, Doctor." 
(a) Spirit: "Dr. Reed permits me to come for a little 
time only now. I was to quite a good degree a Spiritualist, but 
I was doubtful of materialization. 1 find, however, I was hap- 
pily disappointed, in that it is a glorious reality. \ find that 
what little I did know has been of great advantage to me. And 
had I known more, as I might have known, it would have been 
much better for me. 

(&) "I must talk fast. I 'm afraid I can't hold together on 
account of lightning. I 'm dissolving away. I guess I had bet- 
ter get back while I can. Good-night." And the spirit was- 
gone from sight of the circle. 

663. And another in his stead, also for Colonel Van Horn, 
said: "Colonel, do you remember Father Donnelly?" 

Colonel : "Why, yes, sir. How are you, Mr. Donnelly? You 
remember this heathen?" 

Spirit: "Yes, Colonel, but you helped carry me out." 

Colonel: "Yes, Mr. Donnelly. That was a great feat for 

me. The only instance where a heathen has been an invited 

pall-bearer to a Catholic priest. But because of the intimacy of 

the father and me, the church invited me to accept the honor,. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 247 

which I did." And the spirit, bowing assent, retired into the 
cabinet. 

664. And instantly a form stood in our midst, whom we 
knew not, saying: "This is my second attempt." 

Circle: "Who are you?" 
Spirit: "Vice-President Hobart." 

And a flash of lightning destroyed the form, and the circle 
saw the form no more. 

Edmond Schellhous. 

665. And another came to the condition of visibility and 
said : 

(a) "I am Edmond Schellhous. I have had much experi- 
ence on this side. I have great desire to travel, and in that 
way inform myself of affairs of the spirit world. This has re- 
sulted to me in the acquisition of much information concerning 
this glorious country. 

(&) "I am so happy that my brother there is learning of 
this great truth before coming to spirit life. It will be of so 
much benefit to him; and not only to him, but his efforts will 
break the bread of life to many poor hungering souls. Seeing 
these consequences makes the Doctor's friends over here all 
happy." 

666. E. S. Edwards, now in spirit life, comes, greeting 
Colonel Van Horn as a long-time-ago friend. 

667. And next a form in the similitude of a woman to the 
Colonel said: "This is Mary." 

Van Horn: "Yes, Mary, 1 know you. And you do come 
as you thought you would." 

Spirit: "Yes, Colonel. Don't you see? Here I am. This 
is indeed a grand treat." 

Van Horn, to the spirit and circle: "This is Mary Levy, 
the lady that was the medium and instrument giving me much 
light concerning spirit life." 

66S. Sam, for the first time in a long while, stood out in 
full form and talked to us in his own familiar way and seemed 
to have taken the form on purpose to second what Dr. Lamb 
and others on this evening had said about this band going to 
attempt to so far roll back the vail that the circle can have a 
look right into the spirit world, "so soon as conditions will 
permit." And here Sam was knocked all to pieces by vivid light- 
ning, but his voice in the cabinet utters his soliloquy: "Donder 
und blixen, knock 'em all! Good nockt." 

Seance No. 1+9. 

June 10, 1900. 
669. A gentleman by the name of George W. Lamb, of 



248 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Muncie, Indiana, being present, having so determined on read- 
ing "Rending the Vail," but was subject to the will of the 
controls. 

Dr. Reed, 

Saluting us in his usual manner, then said: "Mr. Lamb, we 
have looked into your case and find no objection to your sitting 
in these seances. You are therefore welcome to remain." But 
Mr. Lamb had the privilege of a private seance last evening, 
which doubtless made his conditions better fitted. This Mr. 
Lamb, it seems, is not related to Mrs. J. B. Lamb, who has just 
concluded a visit here. 

Dr. Reed also expresses regret that our good brother and 
sister, Mr. and Mrs. House, cannot be with us, and said further: 
"Tell Brother House we do what we can for his case, but his 
wounds are of such a nature that we can do little more than 
soothe, while Nature does the repairing, and we hope that he 
can be with us again in a few days. While conditions, because 
of the break in the circle, are not so good, we will, neverthe- 
less, do the best we can. But you must not expect too much 
this evening." 

Professor Denton. 

670. (a) "I am happy to be here again this evening. It 
may seem strange to those visitors from abroad who are at- 
tending here from time to time that a spirit should be able 
to stand in visible form like this and talk as we do here, but 
if they consider a moment, they must see that it is no more 
strange that we can talk than it is that Ave can stand here and 
be seen. 

(b) "We have tried for a long time — for years even — to 
accomplish what we are doing now, and persistent effort has 
given and is giving to us an abundant degree of success. 

(c) "We wish, above all things, to settle this God question 
with and for your world. We wish to have your people of earth 
to know that while they talk about delusion, deception, hallu- 
cination, and such like, there is no delusion greater than the 
common idea among them concerning a God. We want them to 
know that beyond all this is a great deal more, an infinite array 
of human spirits to whom your world may confidingly, and often 
successfully, appeal." 

Thomas Paine. 

671. The powerful eloquence of this wonderful vocalizer 
cannot be portrayed on paper. Words cannot describe it. This 
spirit's vocal chords seem to be as if of symphoniously, well- 
attuned iEolian harp-strings. 

This day the mortal remains of the widow of the late Elias 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 249 

S. Edwards had been laid away in the tomb, she at the age of 
seventy-nine years; and he had made his transition from the 
Osawatomie Asylum something more than one year previously. 
Both of them had been members of these seances in 1890 and 
1891, and had never been attached to any church organization. 
On this occasion Thomas Paine, in his most unique style of 
eloquence, gave to us this tribute in memoriam: 

(a) "Friends, can the world ■ furnish a more glorious phi- 
losophy by which to pass from the mortal to the immortal side 
of life? 

(&) "Dare anyone say that that woman whose body was 
laid away in the ground of your cemetery to-day; that woman, 
so pure, so good, as innocent as opening June roses and gar 
dens of morning flowers, whose soul is all attuned for the music 
of higher spheres, as innocent childhood for the sweet songs 
of summer birds — dare anyone say that such a soul as this is 
gone to hell, eternally damned in hell for having failed to 
confess to some clergyman that she was a sinner and needed 
the blood of some God to wash her sins away? No, no, friends. 
She was received in glad arms of those over here who will see 
that this toil-worn, innocent, trusting pilgrim from earth shall 
sit down to rest in beautiful homes and gardens of her own, and 
in eternal reunion sweet with her loved ones w T ho have been 
waiting here and watching, and now rejoice to welcome her 
home at last." And instantly the spirit w r as gone. Whereupon 

Stephen Girard, 

672. In the condition of visibility, stood forth, and in 
broken voice, at first began talking slowly, deliberately, gradu- 
ally gaining vocal control until it was very good, and all through 
in most tender, sympathetic manner, said: 

(a) "My dear friends, when I was on earth I tried to do 
good for my fellow-men. I tried to help all people who needed 
assistance. I could not always do as much as I would have 
liked, or as was needed, but I tried to do my duty. 

(b) "I was not a Spiritualist. 1 thought I w T ould try to be 
a man, and thereby secure all the benefits accruing, if any, just 
as well as in any way. 

(c) "I am sorry that they did as they did do with my 
money. They did not use it fully as I intended. I saw the 
poor children, poor orphan children, poor children everywhere, 
not able, not in condition — nor without help were they likely 
ever to be able — to obtain any preparation for the duties of 
citizenship of their own or any country." Here the spirit went 
into the cabinet, but immediately returned, saying: 

(d) "They told me in there that I had forgotten something, 



250 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

and had better come again. It was said Stephen Girard had" 
gone to hell; but then there are so many people on earth that 
do not know a great deal about what goes on in spirit life. And 
oil en limes those claiming to be in possession of the keys know 
less than anybody else. 

(e) "No. Stephen Girard did not go to hell, nor is he gone 
t here now, nor is it likely that he will go to hell. In fact, very 
few people go to hell just because somebody says so out of the 
hell within themselves. On the contrary, 1 am doing about the 
same as I did on earth. I am at work for the good of man. And 
my reward is the same: every time J tried to benefit man my 
heart was made bigger. 

(/) "I did not know I could come in this way — in fact, I 
thought I could not, bat 1 have been shown the way, and I ant 
very thankful that I am permitted to come to you here. I want, 
while I can, to speak to you to have attention directed toward 
helping the poor orphans, the poor little ones everywhere. Out 
of these are made your great men, your great women. In help- 
ing them you help to make greater men and greater women on 
earth. 

(g) "I have enjoyed this life since I have been here. In- 
stead of being in hell and among devils, I was received away 
above low, dark conditions by those whom I had assisted in 
earth life. Joy unspeakable, bliss beyond conception! Oh, this 
sweet, heavenly gratitude, and the glorious home which these 
grateful hearts had builded for me in this eternal world! Oh. 
man, oh, woman, do not neglect the little ones!" 

Insanity. 

673. Comes one to the arena table, writing with a heavy 
hand, so movements of the pencil over the paper are N clearly 
heard by the circle. This is a new writer, we think, because he 
does not write very rapidly, as compared with the speed of 
those used to writing; but in about ninety seconds he has two 
pages written. And this writing is at paragraph 1229. 

Wesley 

674. Joins in the tribute to Mrs. Edwards' transition: 
"Another one has gone from your world to our side of life. She- 
has met her husband here. These having pilgrimaged the earth 
together to more than the allotted good old age are now re- 
united in a glorious voyage out on the eternal ages, but not so 
far away yet as not to be able to visit you." 

One appeared who could not distinctly vocalize. Then an- 
other made the attempt, but without much headwav. 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 251 

Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll, . 

675. In fairly good vocalization and with a good degree of 
eloquence, said: 

(a) "Friends, do you realize that you are creating a great 
disturbance, that is even entering the orthodox fold? You are 
creating a great discussion of the* work of your little hamlet. 
You cannot comprehend what work you have already done. 
You cannot find out the magnitude of the work you are doing 
until you pass the portals. For that time coming your reward 
is waiting, and of such a glorious reward as you cannot now 
even dream. 

(b) "Then I would exhort you, as faithful servants : Work 
diligently on. We want the world to know that they need not 
get down on their knees to any imaginary mythical God and 
ask of such God to notice and protect this little one. We want 
them to learn that when they supplicate any God to have the 
little ones grow to manhood or to womanhood clear of the dan- 
gers along the way, they are talking to one who is not there. 

(c) "But I have found out that there are spirits who are 
able, in many instances, to answer prayer. Ask their protect- 
ing care. It opens up a sympathy between the suppliant and 
spirit condition that often enables those in spirit life to bring 
an influence to bear that is helpful, that is beneficial, and often 
is an answer. And if the world knew the truth: whom to ask, 
what to ask, and how to approach the denizens of spirit life in 
suppliance, they would receive a thousand-fold more blessings. 

(d) "But the religious tenets of your world are continually 
deceiving its inhabitants, or at least very many of them. And 
if they only could be led to understand that there is no prayer- 
answering power other than human spirits in and out of the 
mortal body, and that there is no such being as they call God, 
your world would sooner get on the plane of spirituality that 
recognizes man as one universal brotherhood of certain inalien- 
able natural rights to equal privileges." 

676. As Ingersoll retires, Thomas Paine takes his place 
and exclaims: "To do good is my religion." And then vanishes. 

Junie Lambj 

677. Daughter of George Lamb, after demonstrating her 
identity to the satisfaction of her father, in a whisper said: 

(a) "My name is Junie. Tell papa that, if he will be pa- 
tient, I shall try to give you something for your book. 

(b) "I knew something of spirit return, but I was not much 
versed in real Spiritualism and the laws of life. It would have 
been much better had 1 known more of practical spirituality. 

(c) "I had a hard time on earth, a hard struggle. I thought 



252 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



life hardly worth the living it. But I am getting to realize a lit- 
tle of the grandeur of life. 

(d) "I led my papa to look into this great truth. I invited 
him to go with me and try whether or not he could find some 
comfort and solace, and he kindly consented, and that beginning 
has shown to him this great fact of eternal life." 

Mr. Lamb: "Yes, Junie, that is true." 

(e) Spirit: "And my babe, poor child! the dear little crea- 
ture! And my sister needs me to reach her, to show her of 
life's realities and its meanings, and I must try to aid her. Poor 
girl! 

(/) "If papa remains a sufficient time, I may have better 
strength to give a word more of my experiences since on this 
side." 




RACHEL ANN JOHN. 

Rachel Ann John, 
678. The secretary's sister (,651), presents him with flow- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 253 

ers from the flower-stand, saying: "Howdy do, brother? That 
is my picture. We are ready to come at any time, but so many 
are in here that we stand aside for them. But remember we 
are ever in hailing distance." (See 1207.) 

E. S. Edwards, 

679. Looking just himself as much as ever on earth, said: 
"Say, Mr. Nixon, that was a grand, a noble speech that Thomas 
Paine made in tribute to my wife. Yes, she 's 'crossed' the 
shining river.' 7 (The secretary's daughters, at the funeral, sang 
the piece entitled "Crossed Over." To this the spirit refers.) 
"Yes, she is over here now. We are united on the same side 
of life again, forever free from our worn-out houses. She was 
so tenderly received in loving arms over here. So glorious is 
this world! So grateful do I feel for the privileges we had, my 
wife, my sister, and myself, of learning a little of eternal life 
in this mode of spirit return. And I want to thank you, Mr. 
Nixon, for the masterly manner and skillful style in which you 
^resented our case to the people at our old earthly home, on 
.o-day 7 and when you get over here I shall see that you have 
your pay. And when my wife gets sufficient rest and recupera- 
tion, we shall have her with you to tell of her own transition. 
Good-night." 

680. Mrs. Pratt inquired of Sam whether it is true, as she 
has heard, that another book, made in the same way as we are 
at work here, is being handled by the Light of Truth Company. 

Sam answered: "Veil, uf dey got sooch a pook, why not 
bring it oudt? Vat ish the name uf dot pook, hugh? Say, let 
me tell you somedings: to got such a pook dey have to got such 
a medium, and dot dey no got 'im. Dey got to haf such controls, 
and dey no got 'em. Den anodder ting dey got to haf: dey got 
to haf such a secretary, and dey got to haf him born yit. And 
dey got to haf a circle, and where dey got 'em? And some 
blace to be at und some cook, und whole lots uf tings vat dey 
not got, so you yoost put all uf dot in your bipe und schmoke 
dot; und den see uf dot report ain't all schmoke, und den 
schmoke dot, too. Donder und blixen, knock 'em all! I go now. 
Good-nockt." 

Side Seance. 
Tuesday Evening, June 12, 1900. 
Denton, 

681. "There has been and is now great commotion in polit- 
ical ranks throughout your world. You do not realize the un- 
easy turbulence of politics of your own country at this time. 



254 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

I want to say to you, my friends, that politics is being the ruin- 
ation of your country. A politician, a political partisan, allows 
political prejudice to blind him to every humanitarian principle 
to the extent that he will blindly follow his party dictators into 
absolute national destruction of the very essence of your funda- 
mental groundwork, to-wit: 'That all men are created equal' 
will' soon read, 'All men but the royal are created to be serfs.' 

(a) Politics and consequent partisanship must be gotten 
rid of, and the rights of man substituted. Politics causes war. 
Politics runs your world red with blood. Before war shall 
cease, before blood-shedding shall cease, before your world 
shall know any kind of millennial dawning, politics must get 
off the earth. 

(b) "I hope when s-ome people get over here they will get 
over politics and thereby be over war with their neighbors. 

(c) "Now, Mr. Secretary, as to our work in hand: How do 
you like the new material we are getting in here? We are 
reaching out for material in all directions. This is a great 
undertaking on your side. We have been a long time at work 
for this consummation, and it is almost as astounding to some 
spirits as it is to you. We have succeeded in presenting for 
the consideration of your world a collection of psychic facts 
equal, if not superior, to any collection of psychic facts among 
your scientists on what they call the physical sciences. If such 
collation as ours were made by any mortal on any physical 
topic, the world would be running wild after it. 

(d) "Why do they not examine psychic facts the same as 
they would as to astronomy? Everybody runs wild after a 
shadow (eclipse), but don't want to know anything about the 
shades of death. They don't want to know anything about the 
realities of eternal life. They don't want to know what they 
must do in order to possess enjoyment of eternal life, or wheth- 
er such life and enjoyment are practical possibilities. 

(e) "But in the hope that at some time more or less remote 
a great number of people may come to want to know, we shall 
go right on with our work and have it ready for them when 
they do begin to get their spiritual eyes open." 

. Erastus Coffin. (635, 693, 694, 1276.) 

682. At this seance, too, a spirit who did not give his 
name, but whom we recognized as having been in appearance 
here on some former occasions and who seems to have been 
a preacher, and withal quite mirthful, came out of the cabinet, 
being in the condition of visibility to the circle, and having the 
sunshine of amusement on his countenance, but seeming to 
pause for recognition, and the secretary said to the specter: 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 255 

"You are that fellow that refused your name to us the other 
evening, I believe." 

Spirit: "Is that so?" 

Secretary: "You sometimes attended revivals, I under- 
stand." 

Spirit: "How do yon understand that, I 'd like to know?" 

Secretary: "You told us the other evening, when we asked 
you to give us some of your experience, that you are like the 
fellow that attended a revival and was converted, as they call 
it, and the preacher asked him at the love-feast to give the 
brethren and sisters some of his experience, and the fellow said : 
'Well, brethren, I hain't much to say. I hain't much of a talker. 
I 'm glad to be here, and I pray the good Lord to bless you and 
convert all the sinners. Amen.' You are the fellow that told 
us that anecdote, are you not?" 

Spirit: "Yes, sir. I 'm that fellow." 

Secretary: "Your ability to so accurately portray the pro- 
ceedings of a revival led me to conclude that you must have 
been there." 

Spirit: "Yes, sir. You rightly divined. I am he, all round. 
1 have been mixed up in several revivals since that. 

683. "On one occasion we were having a glorious outpour- 
ing of the Holy Ghost and inpouring of chicken-pie, and the 
elder and the several invited guests sat down to the well-laden 
table. And the good sister landlady looked over toward the 
elder, and the elder caught the twinkle of the dear sister's eye 
and he gave thanks for the twinkle and all the well-spread 
table, and especially for the great heaps of well-cooked chicken 
and dumplings. And we all ate of that chicken, and smacked 
our lips and ate more chicken, like a pack of hungry wolves 
devouring an innocent lamb, until there was naught left but 
empty bones. And we were all full up to the white necktie. 
And the well-filled elder, having observed my fondness for 
chicken, looked at me and nodded, as though it were my time 
to crow 7 . And so I fell into the benediction thus: 

" 'O Lord, our most gracious heavenly parent, we do thank 
Thee for having furnished us such a rich repast from Thy boun- 
tiful hands. And, O Lord, we would ask Thee to have Thy 
stewards visit where larger fowls may be found and obtain and 
furnish abundance of turkey for next Sunday, so that, after all 
are filled, there will be a morsel left for the hungry children 
and the good cook. Amen.' And the brethren thought 1 w T as 
getting too sacrilegious, but they looked over that when they 
saw that the Lord abundantly answ r ered my prayer on the fol- 
lowing Sunday. 

684. "Well, friends, I met one of those brother preachers 
the other day as I was coming here, and he says, 'Where are you 



256 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

going?' And I says, 'They've got a seance over here to-night, 
and I thought I would go round there and look on a little.' 

(a) "He says: 'A seance, what is that?' I says: 'Haven't 
you found that out yet?' 

(b) "He says: 'No, sir. That is new to me. Tell me what 
that is.' I said: 'They have found that they can go back to 
earth and talk with their friends there. I tell you I 'm inter- 
ested in that matter. Won't you go along?' 

(c) "He said : 'No, I believe not now. I will think it over, 
however, and it may be that I will take in the curiosity later on/ 

id) "I met that fellow again to-day, and he said: 'Well, 
sir, I have been down to that place of yours and looked into 
the concern.' And I said: 'Well, what did you find there? And 
w T on't you go there now and see them work?' 

(e) "He said: 'Well, sir, I saw a trumpet hanging there, 
and a kind of table with some blank tablets on it, and a big box 
with some blank paper in it, and some chairs, and a music-box 
on the floor, and a red light in a box in the corner, and some 
black curtains across one corner of the room opposite the red 
light, and a bookcase; and over by the bookcase there was a 
small table with a box on it [secretary's table]. It looked like 
it was fixed up for the devil's table, and on top of the box on 
the table was something sticking out that looks like one of 
the devil's horns [a tube to ventilate the box] . No, sir, thank . 
you. I shall wait a more convenient season to be caught in 
such a place as that.' " 

Then the spirit stooped down a little, as though talking to 
the secretary confidentially, but yet so all could hear, and said: 
"Say, if you say nothing about it, I am going to fix up a kind of 
machine to scare that fellow to death next time he comes in 
here, won't we?" 

(/) "Then I said: 'I guess you found Jesus?' He said, 
rather dolefully: 'No, I have not, and I just came around to 
ask you to show me the way.' 

(g) "I said : 'The road you are on is as good a way as any. 
Just keep right straight along that way till you get through 
the first lane, and there you will need and take a rest. Then 
go on to the next change and keep right on following your nose 
until you find what there is of him.' And he said: 'Well, then, 
I thank you, sir, and I must be going. (See forward G93.) 

"And I said: 'So must I. Good-night.'" 

Seance No. 50. 

June 14, 1900. 
685. Mr. and Mrs. House not yet able to be present. 
Colonel Van Horn and Mrs. Dr. Murphy, of Kansas City, and 
George Lamb, of Muncie, Indiana, present. Minutes of last 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 257 

seance and of Tuesday evening seance read and passed to spir- 
its for correction. The mirthful spirit .said: 

"Mr. Secretary, you have a mistake on me." 

Secretary: "Please state it." 

Spirit: "You should have inserted. "So keep right on : 
lowing your nose." " (684 f.) 

686. Dr. Ee^d said: "One member of the circle is not in 
good condition, and that will interfere with our intended pro- 
gramme for the evening, but we will do the best we possibly 
oan." 

687. Sam asked Mrs. Murphy whether the minutes, as 
read, correctly reported what Professor Denton said on T tes- 
day evening. 

She said: "As nearly as I can judge and remember, the 
report is correct.'" 

Sam: "Veil, dot ish all right, but ef the secretary not got 
uni right. I make *im got it right." 

688. Pike Allen, insane case, whose written experience. 
No. 2. is found at paragraph 1232. 

689. The artist gets his work in early in the seance, and in 
his usual manner and speed, of a life-size bust portrait of an 
aged person, recognized as that of one Pap Sawyer, a railroad 
engineer of great ^xperien-.e. who finally shortened his own life 
h>y suicide. (353.) 

Li 

690. Then spoke, saying: "I hope those from a distance 
who visit us will leave here pleased with what is given. We 
try to make the work as pleasing as possible, and some may 
think it so strange, after all. that we stand here and talk as 
we do. But if they will study, they must conclude it no more 
strange to thus talk than to be made visible. Anyway, it is a 
fact and cannot be denied, but must be accepted: if not there, 
then surely over here." 

691. Arthur Skinner, brother to Mrs. Murphy, stood forth 
in condition of visibility and to the clear recognition of Mrs. 
Mairphy. then dematerialked downwardly. 

Do' § ner. 

602. Sister to Mrs. Murphy, after fully demonstrating her 
identity to Mrs. Murphy. sTej»ped near to the secretary, and 
in a whisper said to him: "Mrs. Murphy is my sister. Tell her 
that our mother is not yet spiritual enough to realize anything 
of this grand truth. That she would not recognize, would nor 
■accept anything of that now. I sometimes endeavor to ap- 
proach mother, but cannot get her to realize my present so 

hv - IT 



258 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

we shall have to allow time to have her mind adjusted to these 
things. 

(a) "Often I shall be near to my sister, and she can sense 
my presence at times. If all could know of this great reality, it 
would be a blessing. But the one that lives a spiritual life is 
the one whose reward is great. My form is failing. 1 must go. 
Thank you, sir. Good-by." 

One of Coffin's Revival D.D.'s. (684.) 

693. Then one came out of the cabinet who was not at 
first able to vocalize very well, but soon got fixed up so he could 
talk, and then said: "Where am I? This is awful funny to me." 
Being near to the secretary, examining the trumpet, when the 
secretary touched it, the spirit said: "Don't shove that con- 
cern right into my face." Then the spirit stepped nearer to 
the secretary, looked at the light box on the table, and as he 
pointed at the box, said: "Say, what do you keep there?" 

The secretary, recognizing this to be the preacher that the 
funny fellow met and was going to scare with some odd-looking 
machine, said: "They say that is the devil in there." 

Spirit: "Oh, if you have the devil in there, I 'm going right 
out of here." As he entered the cabinet the jolly fellow laughed 
at him and tried to get him to come back, but he said: "No, 
sir. I 'm never going so near to hell again." 

And the mirthful man rushed right out of the cabinet, 
laughing aloud, saying to the secretary: "I tell you that preach- 
er is just scared all into fits." And laughed as heartily as you 
ever see anyone laugh, and began backing into the cabinet, say- 
ing as he did so: "Say, Jabez, did you ever know one Erastus 
Coffin?" 

Secretary: "Well, I should think I did." 

Spirit (laughing): "I didn't fool you much, did I?" 

694. Secretary: "Not this time, Erastus. Say, Erastus, 
your wife has forgotten her own name." 

Spirit: "Yes. I told you she's 'gone over,' and I thought 
I would be looking around a little myself." Then, after a hearty 
laugh, the spirit vanished amid the merriment of the circle. 

694. This "She's gone over" refers to an expression of 
this spirit found in "Bending the Vail," on page 92. We did 
not know what the expression, "She 's gone over," was in- 
tended to signify until, nine years later, this lady's correspond- 
ence shows that her widowhood name is "Mrs. Carrie," while 
that of her married life was "Mrs. Caroline." Of course the 
good old "ironsides" think it awfully sacrilegious for a spirit 
to express mirthfulness, jollity, sarcasm. They call it "buffoon- 
ery," "horribly horrid," and all that. 



BEYOND THE VAIL, 25£ 

695. But why did their God make mirthf illness as the sun- 
shine of earth life, unless to be used? And if mirthf ulness die 
with the bod}', why not every other natural human trait also 
die? And the purpose of this spirit and of this spirit band 
being to show the realistic naturalness of spirit life, and also 
to show some of the errors of earth life that might be modi lied 
while on earth, so as to result in better conditions in the future 
life for the individual, this spirit expresses the results of his 
experiences, since in spirit, in what he deems the most effica- 
cious manner to make of them lessons to the children of earth. 

Matt Clary, 

696. Eecognized by Colonel Van Horn as a railroad con- 
ductor who had served as such with marked success for a num- 
ber of years before changing to spirit life, said: "If people be 
not happy, it is their own fault. I was not a crank, but if they 
will not accept this truth, they ought to be unhappy. As a train 
manager I saved many lives." 

697. Paul Bremond, a prominent Spiritualist of Texas 
when on earth, in the condition of visibility, announced his 
name. 

698. Little Nellie stood in the cabinet doorway, chatting 
away very lively, as a small child would, for nearly one minute, 
then vanished and instantly there stood in the same place where 
Xellie had just stood a very tall woman form, being such con- 
trast to Nellie that every one of the circle must note the inci- 
dent in memory. 

Seance No. 51. 

June 17, 1900. 

699. After the usual preliminary formalities, 

Professor Denton 

700. Took on the condition of visibility before the circle, 
and Mrs. Aber asked him whether fruits similar to the fruits 
of our orchards abound in spirit life. And the spirit answer- 
ing said: 

(a) "Yes, my good lady. Anything yon desire you will find 
in abundance here unless it be an unnatural desire, or desire 
of abnormal appetite. In spirit life you will find cherries, 
peaches, apples in exact spiritual counterpart of the fruits of 
earth. 

701. "You have pets also in spirit life. A short time ago 
the artist said to some of us it would be a good idea to give 
you a picture of a dog, and perhaps of a horse, to illustrate that 
pets and domestic animals are at your service in spirit life. 
Every desire which is essential to spirit growth is to be satis- 
fied on this side the same as on vou'r side of life. 



260 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

702. "Money is not essential. Money is not natural. It is 
artificial, to satisfy a selfish purpose. Therefore you will find 
no money, no coin of any realm over here. In general, those 
who acquire great wealth in money on your earth are poor as 
poor can be when they reach this side. The wealth of earth, the 
money of earth, hoarded, is simply hoarded labor, the toil of 
poor laborers, and belongs to the laborers of earth. Therefore 
it is that the dollars of earth are not transferable to spirit life 
at transition. And the wealthiest mortal must leave his wealth 
all behind. The person without a penny, who is in possession 
of an intelligent spirituality is richer far than the wealthiest 
man of dollars that ever lived on your earth. 

703. "If you would be rich indeed, you must make for 
yourself a spirituality that pulsates for universal humanity. 
Oh, friends, the acquisition of an intelligent spirituality will 
make you richer than all the wealth of earth can make you." 

704. A new phase was introduced at this seance, to-wit: 
One spirit visible at one point in the room talking through the 
trumpet, and at the same time another spirit visible at another 
point in the room. 

Colonel Robert G. Ingersoll. 

705. Presented himself in the condition of visibility at the 
point where the vocalizers now usually stand and began speak- 
ing in rather good rhetorical manner, increasing in vigor and 
earnestness of manner and utterance to nearly his normal while 
in the mortal, saying: N 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. This kind of place suits me 
very well, and whenever conditions permit me to properly do 
so, I shall be glad to embrace the opportunity of being one in 
your visible presence. 

(b) "People did not class me as believing in Spiritualism; 
nevertheless what I taught was mostly, so far as I taught, the 
same as Spiritualism teaches. 

706. "I tried to teach that they of the popular churches 
are on the wrong road, the road leading away from the truth. 
That they are embracing an injurious delusion. 

(a) "I find I did a great deal of good. My name, my repu- 
tation goes out that I was a good man, because I was seen to 
live somewhat a moral life, because it was seen that I tried 
to live an honest life and tried to help my fellow-man. 

(b) "My disposition now is to endeavor to work for human- 
ity, for out of my earth life I came to this side with a good, 
healthy spirituality, and I now see that my course was in direct 
line with Spiritualism. I felt that the people are blinded and 
kept in superstitious ignorance from false teaching. 

707. "I feel sorry now for those who, from such teaching, 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 261 

are kept in ignorance and are led to believe in that man they 
call God — one whom they never saw. I saw how this great 
theological delusion is bearing down the humanity of men and 
women. I saw how this great falsehood is made to usurp the 
very fountain of truth itself. I felt then and I feel now that 
this delusion is one of the greatest hindrances to a general 
humanitarian elevation. I sought then and seek now to break 
the chains used by this mythical idol to bind down in serfdom 
the very souls of men and women. And therefore I am at work 
right along the same lines as I did on earth, for amelioration 
of the children of earth, by the breaking up and destruction of 
false gods and the uprooting of idolatry." 

Thomas Paine. 

708. That most astounding of all vocalizers at these se- 
ances, standing in view of the circle, and speaking in his own 
inimitably eloquent manner of voice and pleasing style, said : 

(a) "Friends, it has often been said that it is possible for 
spirits to materialize in broad daylight. 

(b) "I would say to you that it is possible for spirits to 
materialize to the degree of common visibility in broad or full 
white light only on very rare occasions. 

(c) "Something of the law governing the development and 
retention of the sensitive on the plate used in the process of 
photography governs in the process of materialization. So far 
it has been found almost impossible to fix and hold the sensi- 
tive film on the plate in clear white light. Experiment has dem- 
onstrated that white light which is pure, full, broad light de- 
stroys such film immediately upon the exposure of the film to 
such light. Experiment also has shown that this photo process 
may be successfully accomplished in red or ruby light, and very 
recent experiments have shown that green light also may be 
used successfully in photography. 

(d) "By experiment, you know and any scientist may know 
that white light instantly destroys the visibility of a material- 
ization, and that a visible materialization may be produced in a 
soft mellow light of yellow, or ruby, or any soft light; but only 
on very rare occasions in full white light. 

(e) "A spirit in ethereal form is subject to clairvoy- 
ant vision. Ethereal vibrations are subject to detection by 
clairaudient. 

(/) "The person who has his or her eyesight quickened so 
as to be sensitive to ethereal vibrations is clairvoyant and able 
to see the ethereal form that radiates such vibrations, which 
is an etherealization proper. 

(g) "And if a person's spiritual hearing be so quickened 



262 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

as to sense voice waves of spirits, clothed upon only with spirit 
ether, such an one is clairaudiant. Often clairvoyance is so 
realistic to the clairvoyant as to be mistaken for materializa- 
tion, and clairaudience for vocalization. 

(h) "But clairvoyance and clairaudience are not affected by 
broad light, for this light does not destroy or in any way affect 
the ethereal form. Hence clairvoyance and clairaudience are 
as practical in broad light as in any degree of darkness, and 
need no cabinet. 

(i) "I am glad it is possible that spirits can and do stand 
in visible form and be recognized by mortals, and while in such 
condition of visibility to write and talk to people of earth of 
future life for man, and of the various conditions that people 
find themselves in when in spirit life accordingly as the indi- 
vidual is prepared. I love to stand here in this way and tell 
you, in this direct method, of life, endless life. To show to you 
that your physical life is only one stage of endless life, com- 
posed of an infinitude of different stages; and to tell yOu of 
the glories that may be found along the line of those stages 
and of the innumerable hosts of living, loving friends who, 
awaiting your coming, will hail to you a glad welcome when 
you reach your different ethereal stages, and assist in your 
passage through them, and from one to the other as you ascend 
the eternal spheres. 

(j) "It has been also both spoken and written by certain 
self-styled scientific research people that a visible materializa- 
tion under any conditions is simply a scientific absurdity and 
an absolute impossibility, and contrary to every known natural 
law. 

709. "Here, friends, I wish to say as loudly as I can, so 
as to be heard all round your earth, that what is called spirit 
materialization is in exact accord with every known law of 
spirit and of physics. 

(a) "Every physical form in all of Nature's wide domain 
is a materialized form, builded either by some external spirit 
power or by a spirit life innate to the form. Therefore every 
one of those anti-materialization carpers is himself a temporary 
spirit materialization. Do those self-laudated scientists not 
know that one law, the law of spirit ability to manifest itself 
through matter to other spirit in matter, is the law that gov- 
erns, rules, controls all spirit communion of all phases and 
ages? The same law that materializes gardens of roses, and 
the fauna and flora of your whole world, and of all other mate- 
rial worlds for that matter, materializes man. Do away with 
this one law and this whole material universe would at once 
cease to be. 

(b) "Do away with that law, and your telegraphs, tele- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 263 

phones, graphophones, and every means of communion among 
mortals, you must know would be done away with also. Oh, 
fools, fools and bigots! But I shall try to not be harsh, but 
you have learned some of the laws of materialization, and you 
apply that knowledge to the generation of improved domestic 
animals and general agricultural materializations. You learn 
some of the law of vision, and you make a material assistance 
to your powers of vision, so as to make that visible which other- 
wise is invisible to you. 

(c) "So a spirit materialization is simply an application by 
spirit of its acquired knowledge of so much of the general law 
of materialization as appertains to conscious perception of 
material forms. And who dare say that a spirit can not learn, 
at some stage of endless unfoldment, of the law of materializa- 
tion, and make practical application of that knowledge sufficient 
to construct a temporary visible body for a spirit to use as an 
instrument of communion with persons in the physical life? 
If your reason here be allowed to assert itself, you must dis- 
cern that to deny materialization to the degree of personal rec- 
ognition is to deny the whole evolutionary theory itself. Any- 
way, friends, these are some of the opinions of Thomas Paine 
uttered to you by means of materialization, as you may bear 
me witness." (This speech is a repetition, but made for the 
purpose of emphasis.) 

710. Annie Clemens, clothed upon in garments white and 
glistening, gathered flowers that were upon the stand, walked 
about the room and distributed to the various members of the 
circle. And also did Frankie Schellhous and Mother Pratt. 

711. And then came the dementia patient, and finished his 
written description of experiences of such cases. And this writ- 
ing is placed at 1232. 

Side Seance. 

June 19, 1900. 
After much brilliant phenomena in a stronger light than 
usual, during which the circle had said something about call- 
ing spirits back and about having them to come back. 

Professor Denton 

712. Said, in rather more deliberative manner than usual: 
(a) "I wish^ou would inform those people that we are not 

called back. We are already here. We are looking up the in- 
terests of this exchange of communion between the two worlds; 
for there are interests in our work to be watched and guarded 
as closely as your work of earth sometimes needs. 

713. "I tell you, friends, I have met much opposition to 
this work on this side. There is much opposition here, as 



264 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

there is with you; but by diligence in our duty here we finally 
overcome the ignorance, and thus we are too much for them. 
We convince some, and they come to us, join us, you might say, 
and become for us the same as sinners at revivals, and change 
their work to the Lord's side. Some, however, think they are 
all right, and pursue their opposition course with more or less 
energy, but they become enlightened by and by. 

(a) "I was progressive while in the physical, and death did 
not change my nature in that regard. I soon learned that my 
power of observation was quickened by my transition, and that, 
if I would note down my observations, I would soon have a rich 
fund of experience. 

714. "Not long since I met the medium's brother [Wesley, 
in spirit life], who seemed to be traveling with a spirit, and I 
watched my opportunity and soon was permitted an interview 
with this spirit, concerning his travels with the medium's broth- 
er, and the spirit said: 'I followed Wesley over hills and moun- 
tains, dark valleys and streams of water, and, by and by, we 
came to a barren place, a desert, which crossed to the foot of 
a cliff of rock, and, as we ascended, W T esley pointed down to a 
condition of darkness. He said, "That is where they plunge 
into that condition," and the scene to me was as realistic as 
though an actual occurrence on earth. 

(a) " "The medium's brother said : "I will now take you 
out of that condition to a higher plane." And I followed on 
up the mountain and all around me it grew brighter and 
brighter, and, although far up the mountain, we saw about 
us beautiful flowers. And at last we were to the mountain 
summit and there stretched away a level plain or table-land, 
and the medium's brother said: "We are now on the level 
of the mountains and nearing the place I told you of where 
they hold those meetings where spirits and mortals congre- 
gate for interchange of thought." And in a moment, as it 
seemed to me, we found the hole where they go in at, and we 
got in easy enough, but when I looked about for a way out, I 
found it closed.' 

"So, my friends, this spirit was actually here among us and 
among you; but not to your recognition, though we hope to 
have him introduced to you soon. 

715. "But the medium's brother said to him, 'Wait a lit- 
tle and you will learn that material things are not a hindrance 
to passage of spirit, and all you need is to wait a little and 
watch, and vou will easilv learn vonr wav out.' " 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 265- 

Seance No. 52. 

June 21, 1900. 

716. Colonel Van Horn with us, in addition to visitors of 
last seance. 

717. At this seance six examples of materializations in 
strong light were given with entirely satisfactory success. One 
of these, Charley Van Horn, for his father, Colonel Van Horn, 
was exceedingly brilliant and vivid, to the expressed great joy 
and comfort of the father. 

Denton 

718. Also stood out in the bright light, and after making 
the experiment a complete success, also spoke in his ordinary 
manner of vocalizing, saying: "Friends, be not disappointed if 
you do not get an oration to-night. We must not slight the 
artist, and we have other work on the programme." 

719. Emma Abbott, a materialization, appeared at the- 
arena table, writing very rapidly, so that the circle could all 
see and hear the movements of the pencil over the paper. The 
spirit wrote upon and tore from the tablet four leaves, and 
handed them to Colonel Van Horn, and the writing is accurately 
copied at 1234 et seq. 

720. At this seance the artist made portrait No. 25 of a 
woman wearing a high headdress. Egyptian, perhaps. (520.)- 

Dr. Thome, 

721. An old acquaintance of Colonel Van Horn and who 
had investigated Spiritualism before his transition, very em- 
phatically identified himself to the Colonel, and then said to 
him: 

(a) "I am glad you have your eyes open. There are those 
who don't and won't' believe. Well, I pity the poor devils when 
they get over here and see this whole business a fact." 

The New Yorker. 

722. Then there came into the presence and sight of the 
circle the form of a man, who could not at first speak very 
clearly, but after some effort began talking quite distinctly. 
From his talk, this is the spirit that Denton told us about at 
the last seance. This spirit said: "This is a strange place ta 
me. Where am I at? This is so new to me." 

Circle: "You are in Spring Hill, Kansas." 

Spirit: "Is that so? Well, I 'm a long way from home." 

Circle: "Where was vour home?" 

Spirit: "New York."' 

Circle: "How did vou get in here awav from New York?" 



266 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Spirit: "] don't know. I was coming along with another, 
and there seemed to open a hole, and we came right on through 
that hole and found ourselves right in here, and the hole seemed 
to close up. Where am I? Ain't 1 dead? Ain't you folks here 
people? Did you die? Where are you?" 

Circle: "Spring Hill, Kansas." 

Spirit: "W r ell, ain't that where I am?" 

Circle: "You are in the spirit world. We are yet in our 
mortal bodies on earth." 

Spirit: "I am right here. And here is my body. And I 
thought I was, dead. Well, this is very strange to me: how is 
it that I am dead and here, and you are not dead and you are 
here? What kind of a place is this anyway?" 

Circle: "This is a kind of place where the so-called dead 
can meet and commune with those who are not dead." 

Spirit (to the secretary and near to the lantern-box that 
is on the secretary's table) : "Say, Mister, what is that concern 
there, and what are you doing?" 

Secretary: "It is my business to note down on paper what 
the dead and the living say to each other here, and this box is 
my lantern." 

Spirit: "Well, I should say that is real funny. I w T onder 
what I am here for?" 

Circle: "Perhaps some people, your friends, who died be- 
fore you did, having learned much of the needs of newborn 
spirits, have assisted you into this presence that you may learn 
an important lesson of some kind, which you will know to be 
of great benefit to you." \ 

723. Spirit: "I should like to know how I got in here, and 
how I am going to get out of here." 

Circle: "That's it. That is something you need to know, 
and if you learn that one important lesson by this visit, you will 
find yourself set far ahead." 

Spirit: "Yes, but how am I to find this matter out?" 

Circle: "All yon need do is to closely observe some of 
those people in the cabinet there, whom you call dead; you will 
see them come in and go out, and you w r ill learn in that w T ay that 
what are called spirits of dead people can easily pass right 
through material things, like the walls of a house, not being 
hindered by what is called solid matter. That your will force 
can open your way for passage through solid matter, leaving 
the material intact as before. So that to get out of here you 
will the way and see the hole you speak of and go out as your 
guide brought you in." 

Spirit: "Well, then, maybe I had better go now. Maybe 
I come again. Good-night." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 267 



Narcissa Johnson. 



724. A stranger, having the appearance of a woman, whis- 
pered: "I am Narcissa Johnson. I am very well pleased with 
my new home over here. I am so glad to be able to come to you 
in this way. I wish my husband were here, so that he could 
see me now. It would be a great relief to him and help me on 
my way. I cannot hold this form longer, so I must go. Good- 



night." 



Mary Mott. 



725. A spirit in visible form stood before the circle and 
near to Colonel Van Horn, saying: "I am Mary Mott. Do you 
see me, Colonel? See my eyes?" 

Van Horn : "Yes, yes, Mary, I do see you very plainly, and 
your eyes, too." 

Milt McGee, 

726. With whom the Colonel had been intimate many 
years before this spirit left the body, said: "Hello, Colonel, 
how are you? Get me those slateSj will you, Colonel?" 

The Colonel took a pair of slates that were in reach of him 
and, satisfying himself that they were clean, placed them to- 
gether, and held them clutched tightly in his hands; another 
person of the circle took hold of the slates also, and so did the 
spirit. In a moment all the circle could and did hear distinctly 
a noise as of someone writing on the slate with slate pencil. 
Then the pencil was heard to drop, and the spirit speaking 
aloud, said: "I have written you a private message, Colonel. 
Look at it. You will find I did not do any swearing in that 
writing." 

The Colonel opened the slates, and, sure enough, there in- 
side the slates was found written very plainly a message to 
Colonel Van Horn, and signed "Milt McGee," and no swearing- 
in the message. It seems that this spirit, while in the physical 
and in conversation with a friend, would swear. 

Harvey Mott, 

727. Who in the physical was a medium of note, at this 
seance, in wonderfully brilliant and realistic make-up, identified 
his personality to the Colonel's great delight, and of many 
things, said: "Say, Colonel, I have dropped politics. 1 find 
politics more foolishness than anything else " 

Colonel: "And I, too, have most quit politics." 
Spirit: "Say, Colonel, I am glad of this medium. I am glad 
to be able in this way to salute my friends yet in the physical." 

728. General Bloodso, one of Harvey Mott's controls, also 
identified to the Colonel. 



268 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Astounding Proof of Identity. 

729. One other incident of this seance may be noticed. For 
tlie benefit of Colonel Van Horn and Dr. Schellhous, in being 
able to more clearly discern both the forms and the features of 
countenance, by order of Sam the lights were turned up so that 
the countenances, the faces of the members of the circle were* 
clearly and easily to be seen by those of ordinary eyesight. 
While the room was so lighted, several of the spirit friends of 
the Doctor and Colonel materialized, one after another, with; 
their clear and unmistakable features and identity of physiog- 
nomical expression to their intense gratification and great joy. 
Professor Denton stood at the southeast corner of the cabinet,, 
holding the cabinet curtains aside so that the secretary and 
those persons at the south end of the circle saw the spirit stand- 
ing between the south wall of the room and the curtains so- 
drawn aside. In this position the spirit said: 

(a) "Say, Mr. Nixon, do you now see me as clearly as you* 
did when you and I were out in the lecture field?" 

Nixon: "I see you as clearly as I would then have seen 
you had you been slightly shaded as you are now by those cur- 
tains, which would have been sufficiently clear to know your 
personality." 

Thereupon the spirit stepped right up to within two or 
three feet of Mr. Nixon and said: "Well, how is that? Clear 
enough?" 

Nixon: "Oh, yes, Professor. You are certainly as clear 
as any person could be in good lamplight. I see all these per- 
sons to the right of me as clearly as I could desire did I wish 
to recognize them from their faces, and I see you, Professor, as- 
clearly as I see any of those in this room." 

And here all the circle exclaim: "We certainly see that 
form as plainly as anybody could ask." 

Spirit: "Then that is settled again." And immediately the 
spirit went into the cabinet and through it out into the arena 
and right on to Colonel Van Horn in the northwest corner of the 
room, some sixteen feet or more from where the spirit stood 
before Nixon, and said: "Say, Colonel, you saw me and heard 
me lecture at Kansas City once when I was in the physical. Do> 
you recognize me now as that same Denton?" 

(b) Van Horn: "Oh, yes, Professor, this certainly is as 
clear or clearer, and you are now more plainly discernible to 
me, as that same Denton, than you could appear to me had you 
lived and now been presented to me in your mortal body, for 
that would have been faded and changed by the lapse of years, 
whereas you now stand here in facsimile of yourself as you were 
then in the physical. This, Professor, is most astoundingly real- 
istic to me of vour identity." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 269 

(c) Then the spirit turned to Dr. Sehelihous, who sat at 
Tan Horn's side, and said: "Say, Doctor, how is this?" 

Sehelihous: "Why, yes, Professor, I met you years ago in 
California and listened to you lecture there, and now I clearly 
discern from your countenance, your form, your voice, and your 
mannerisms the identical Professor Denton here and now ad- 
dressing me that I then saw and heard." 

Spirit: "Well, friends, I hope this again settles the iden- 
tity business. We want to do something else beside wasting 
our time and force at every seance on the question of identity, 
and you people can just tell the carpers to go and see — if they 
can get a chance." And the spirit was gone. 

This is the accommodating pains that these spirits will be 
at to satisfy any real honest and sincere searcher for truth, and 
this case is only similar to hundreds and to cases occurring here 
all the time, but we cannot cumber the record wuth mere repe- 
tition of similar occurrences, for it would require volumes to 
contain it. 

Seance No. 53. 

June 24, 1900. 

730. 0. V. N. House and wife again join us. Room made 
•dark for self-luminous forms, and several such forms presented, 
.although the room was so dark that not one of the circle was 
visible to any other, yet the forms were visible as if the room 
were lighted. 

731. Little Nellie, in apparently gorgeous array, chattered 
in her childish manner to the different members of the circle. 

732. Then one form appeared stauding, or, rather, sus- 
pended in the air, the feet not touching the floor by several 
inches; then danced about in the air, the feet being at times 
three feet above the carpeting, at other times one foot above 
the floor. 

733. One tall Indian form, with headgear feathers shining 
as if of burnished silvr^, and in the light flitting about the room. 

734. Some wonu. J forms in brilliant white, others in white, 
silver, and gold-colored calico. Some of the countenances were 
so brilliant and clear that those of the circle who had known 
them in the physical were as clearly recognized by their feat- 
ures now as before transition. After this indescribable display 
of self-luminosities, sometimes called etherealizations, 

Emma Abbott, 

735. Standing in the light at the arena table, wrote in con- 
tinuation of her narrative, and found at paragraph 1237. Wliile 
this spirit was writing, she was also in conversation with vari- 
ous persons in the circle. She said: 



270 BEYOND TEE VAIL. 

(a) "I learned this mode of writing by watching others 
here and practicing. This is a grand work you mortals are try- 
ing to do here." To Mrs. House: "Yes, Mrs. House, I know of 
my picture at your house, and feel thankful that you have felt 
such interest in me." And to the secretary: "Kind sir, I thank 
you and I thank all of these for this opportunity. This closes 
my writing for the present, but I may be permitted to write 
you more by and by." 

Professor Denton 

736. Said: "Well, friends, you see I am here again, and 
glad of it. And I am also of the presence of our good brother 
and sister House, and hope we shall have the pleasure of their 
company often in the future. This is the kind of seance I like. 
It makes me glad when the forms can be appreciated. 

(a) "Friends, I met a spirit whose death was a terrible 
one. He was on his way to California, crossing the plains, when 
nearly all was wilderness west of Missouri. He became sick, 
and from hunger and thirst his companions left him to die; to 
die of thirst and hunger, alone on the Great American Desert. 
They would not have deserted their dog, nor would a dog have 
deserted them so. That was an awful, awful death to die. But 
he was a young man. His companions had wives and children 
who must move on or also starve out on the plains. He told 
his companions to leave him alone to die, to die in solitude, for 
want of water, but go on, hasten on and save their wives and 
children. Here was a heart-rending experience. 

(b) "His companions were not so hard-hearted, but were 
driven to choose whether to have their own families all to per- 
ish or leave this young man alone to such terrible doom. It is 
true he was not married, but he had a mother somewhere, he 
had a sister somewhere. How these would be stricken almost 
to death when they would learn of the horrible doom of 'my 
dear brother!' and 'Oh, my poor son! my boy! my poor, poor 
boy! no mother, no sister, nobody to give the dear boy a cup 
of water !' and father only can weep. 

737. "This spirit told me that he was lost, for he went out 
as though going to sleep, and on awakening he was at his body 
and did not know he was dead until he saw the buzzards eating 
his body. He could not realize himself a spirit until he saw 
his body being devoured. He said that then came his most ter- 
rible ordeal. He wished to leave his body and the place where 
it was because he saw spirits who so desired of him, but it was 
after a long and terrible waiting that he was freed from his 
bodily remnants and his strong attraction to the place where 
his body had perished. And after this, that another attraction 
had prolonged his ordeal of experience. He could not make him- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 271 

self known to his people. If he could have made them realize 
his being yet alive, he would have been much happier all these 
years." 

The New Yorker 

738. Has improved a little. He says: "Have you folks 
been here all this time? Say, Mr. Man, have you been writing 
ever since I was here the other day?" 

Secretary: "No, sir. I stop off for dinner." 

Spirit: "Is that so? Don't laugh at me, folks. I found 
out how to get in and out here. That much of a lesson I got 
the other evening. Say, I believe I can talk better. Seems to 
me not so strange as it did." 

Circle: "What is your name?" 

Spirit: "I hain't found out yet." 

Just here O'Brien reached out of the cabinet, pulled this 
stranger spirit aside and took the trumpet, giving through it a 
very loud salutation ail round, and retired. 

And the New Yorker came right out again, saying: "That 
fellow has no manners at all. He just knocked me right out and 
went to speaking himself," 

Circle: "If you don't know T your name, perhaps you can 
tell us how you died." 

Spirit: "No, I don't know that, unless it was because I 
could not get my breath. Maybe the Doctor does. Let me ask 
him." The spirit goes to the cabinet, folds the curtains aside, 
and asks: "Say, Doctor, do you know what I died with?" 

Eeed's voice in the cabinet: "Yes." 

Spirit: "Tell me, please." 

Reed: "You fool you, yon died of heart failure." 

Then, turning round to the circle, the spirit said: "The 
Doctor says I died of heart trouble, and told me to talk on. 
Well, maybe I '11 be stronger soon, and I will come again." 

When the spirit started back into the cabinet, Reed said, in 
a strong voice: "Yes, he will be stronger." And as Reed thus 
spoke, Sam, in his inimitable broken German-English: "Veil, 
I should tink so." And the New Yorker, starting tow T ard the 
cabinet, talking back, said: "Yes, they say I'll get stronger." 
And as he is about to enter the cabinet, Sam and Reed both 
talking and answering the New T Yorker's questions for a mo- 
ment or two is great amusement for the circle, both because of 
the rare treat of three distinct voices conversing, one outside 
and two inside the cabinet, and the clownish mannerisms of the 
spirits conversing. And this, too, is a case we think it doubt- 
ful whether any sort of ventriloquism can duplicate. 



272 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Freeman. 

739. A spirit came forth, saying: "My name is Freeman, 
just Freeman. I lived in old Kentucky. I believe I have heard 
of that man over there. Ain't that man's name Pratt? Say, 
Pratt, are you a Kentuckian? I lived not far from and above 
Covington. My father settled there when I was a boy. I tell 
you we used to have some pretty tough times. But I got away 
and they can't catch me now. I 've met many Kentucky people 
inside that cabinet there, and some of them are great and good 
men, as you will find anywhere." 

740. Willie Peacock talks to his mother, Mrs. House, 
a little bit, and goes down out of sight and rises right up again. 
Some of the circle speak of the novelty, and the spirit says: "It 
is not every spirit that can do that," and vanished. 

741. Another stood in his place, saying: "I am Kirk Pat- 
rick. How do you do, Mrs. House? This looks like old times. 
There are many of those fools who publish any kind of non- 
sense and foolishness, but won't publish about seances and such 
phenomena as you have here." 

E. 8. Edwards, 

742. In clearly recognizable make-up, said: "How do you 
do? Do you see me now?" 

Circle: "Certainly, and most extraordinarily realistic of 
yourself." 

Spirit: "I told you my wife would try to be with" you to- 
night, but I fear she is not quite strong enough." 

Sam: "Maype she coom. Shall we try it, Doctor?" 
Reed: "Perhaps she can go out in a feeble way." 
Edwards stood in sight of the circle while the spirits in the 
cabinet discussed the matter of Mrs. Edwards' materialization 
at this time, and concluding to make the effort. Then Edwards 
went on with his talk: 

(a) "I was an investigator, and I say that when I began 
investigating this, had I then heard these cabinet conversations 
we have had this evening, that thing alone would have opened 
my mental vision to the fact of spirit return and its consequent 
possibilities. And it seems to me such astounding phenomena 
as ought to clear the way to any honest mind. 

(b) "I want to say to you who were instrumental in lead- 
ing me into this light that I can but poorly express the deep 
gratitude I feel toward you for so doing." 

743. And as this spirit Edwards returned into the cabinet, 
Reed and Sam had Mrs. Edwards coming out of the cabinet 
into the view of the circl^, and able to bow in thankfulness, and 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 273 

she whispers feebly: "I wish Sarah to meet me here," and this 
spirit form faded away. 

744. Then two women materializations became visible at 
the same time, standing about live feet apart. 

Ed. Weslahe. 

745. A spirit stood forth in the condition of visibility, say- 
ing: "I am Ed. Weslake. I went out in a train accident, and 
when I woke up in spirit life I found many of my old-time 
friends also in spirit life, and one who went out by the same 
accident as I did." 

Seance No. 53 — Continued. 

June 26, 1900. 
Dr. Reed, 

746. In rather more than his usual power of vocalization, 
said: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. In my recent travels about 
your country and investigations as to other countries of the 
earth plane, I find that Spiritualism is making much headway 
among people on the physical side of life. 

(b) "People who have been lost in darkness for years as 
to the great question, 'To be or not to be?' are now accepting 
phenomenal Spiritualism and gladly receiving materialization 
which opens to their mental and spiritual understanding the 
whole field of Spiritualism in a new light that is light indeed, 
and many, already many more than you know, are learning from 
that book, "Rending the Vail," and begin to conclude that the 
old question, 'If a man die, shall he live again?' is therein demon- 
stratively solved, is satisfactorily answered. And that book is 
going to live as a revelation of comfort, joy, and peace to com- 
ing generations of your earth. 

746J. "You cannot comprehend what battles we have, 
what contending hosts we have to meet and vanquish, on the 
spirit side of life as well as the great opposition of earth; but 
we can better handle and compete with those on this side than 
those on your side. 

(a) "I hope those who read that book and do not under- 
stand, will re-read again and again until the bars of preju- 
dice will be broken and the truth, which frees the soul, shall 
at last illuminate the souls of all who are desirous of substi- 
tuting truth for error, and the work you are now engaging 
yourselves in will prove an acceptable revelation to your earth 
of far greater value than you can realize while you linger in 
the physical." 

rv — is 



274 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

747. A spirit haying the condition of visible form stood 
to view a moment, saying: "Well, friends, this is glorious, to 
manifest in this way. What a great pleasure and grand real- 
ity! What a great knowledge! What a great revelation indeed 
your world one day will acknowledge gladly. 

(a) "Had I known of it, it would have been much better 
for me. But I am getting on nicely anyway, and I hope to go 
on toward perfection, though, of course, I do not yet realize the 
great unfolding in store for me in the infinite beyond." 

Remarkable Musical Display. 

748. One spirit came out of the cabinet to the trumpet, 
and through it, with it, and by means of it, sang with wonder- 
ful force, volume, and melody, and joined with the pianist in 
the tune "Nellie Gray" for a moment. Then another spirit took 
the trumpet and followed the piano right along on "Nellie 
Gray" for a moment; and when the pianist changed to "Gather- 
ing up the Shells" the spirit Wesley Aber seized the trumpet 
and gave an exhibition of his ability to emphasize, prolong, 
swell, and diminuendo with melodious cadence we never heard 
surpassed by most expert cornet soloist. 

The cornetist renders the music, but this spirit renders 
both music and tvords, the music at least equivalent to the best 
rendering by cornetist, and the words accompany the music 
through the trumpet, and equivalent to, if not surpassing, in 
volume, clearness of utterance, and musical euphony, the best 
rendering by human voice in the physical. Let the reader bear 
in mind that this spirit utters the words in uttering the music. 

Robert Bums. 

749. A spirit form stood to view and said: "This is Rob- 
ert Burns." 

Circle: "Can you not give us some poetry for our book?" 

Art emus Ward. 

750. The spirit Burns vanished, and instantly another and 
very different form stood in the place of Burns, saying: 

"The boy stood on the burning deck, 
Eating peanuts by the peck." 
Secretary: "Well, that is rich. You must be 'Hudibras' 
himself." 

Spirit: "Artemus Ward. 

Circle: "Artemus Ward of funny story fame?" 
Spirit: "Artemus Ward, whose stories, some of them, 
were like the man in the moon." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 275 

751. As Ward was returning into the cabinet, the voice 
of Reed in the cabinet: "Gel out of the way and let the ladies 
pass." And Ward: "Don't spit on the carpet, gentlemen." And 
immediately followed some ten of the most brilliant lady forms, 
one of whom may be worthy of special mention, Mrs. E. S. 
Edwards. 

Mrs. E. 8. Edwards. 

752. This spirit, being clothed upon with brilliantly while 
garments, stood to view of the circle to such perfection as to 
be readily recognized. She also engaged in some conversation 
with various persons of the circle. It will be remembered that 
it is but a little while since Mrs. Edwards passed to spirit life 
and that this secretary made a short address at the house of 
the deceased just before going to the cemetery. Her sister, 
Sarah Lovell, was sitting a little way from the foot of the cas- 
ket and to the left of where the speaker was standing. 

753. And now conies this spirit, speaking of that occasion, 
and turns to the secretary, saying: "My good friend, I was 
glad of what you said. I was so glad to be free from pain. But 
to see poor sister left alone was somewhat sad; then to know 
that in a little while she will more fully realize the great hosts 
of friends over here whom she will gladly meet as they bid 
her welcome here, is consoling. And I will say, my good friend, 
that while you were speaking there, I was standing by your 
side and between you and my sister. I am so glad we knew 
of these things before leaving the old body. And I must thank 
you for assistance to this knowledge. Tell sister of this inter- 
view and tell her that so soon as she is able to come here I 
would be most happy to meet her in this way. Rut I must 
go now." 

Seance No. 5Jf. 

June 28, 1900. 

754. The circle all present and visitors Mrs. Elizabeth S. 
Keepers and her daughter, Lillie A. Keepers, both of Albu- 
querque, Xew Mexico, and R. T. Van Horn, of Kansas City, Mo. 
As soon as the seance began, Denton took occasion to say that 
the report of last seance as read by the secretary is entirely 
satisfactory to spirits participating. Not much matter was 
given for the book, but the phenomenal display was very 
excellent. Reed, in opening, promised to give what would be 
possible for our entertainmeni. 

Lost Spirits. 

755. Denton, in his remarks, said: "There are spirits who 
have been in spirit life for many years who are yet lost, in a 



27G BEYOND THE TAIL. 

lost condition. Having not yet an opportunity to be awakened 
to a conscious realization of their own relation to spirit condi- 
tions. Such as spent their earth lives in absolute selfishness, 
who cared only for the things of your world, for money for 
selfish ends, and it may require ages for some of these to un- 
fold to conditions of spirituality required for any degree of con- 
scions felicity." 

756. Oar New Yorker again: "You people here yet? It 
seems I am getting on quite well. Not so strange as it was. 
I find these dead people to be the most alive of anything. Say, 
those ladies over there came a long wav to see the dead, didn't 
they?" 

Cremation. 

757. Mrs. Wellington, whose body was cremated, gives her 
experience in writing, as follows: "Friends, some time ago I 
promised my brother, Cornelius House, to tell you what effect 
the cremation of my cast-off body had upon my spirit. 

(a) "To me dying was only a change from the world of sor- 
rows to one of infinite bliss. And when the summons came for 
me to come up higher I was ready and anxious to make the 
journey, and it was my desire that my body should be cremated. 
For as a sanitary measure I knew it would be best, and I felt 
that it would be better for my spirit, and now I know it was 
best. 

{o) "When my material body began dissolving from the 
intense heat, my spirit felt so much lighter. Fire has long been 
recognized by the far Eastern nations as a great purifying 
agent. To them it is the science of all life. I know b t V experi- 
ence that it frees the spirit much quicker than any other means 
of dissolution. 

758. "Embalming is a heathenish custom and should be 
abandoned, for the spirit of man is never entirely untrammeled 
until his physical body is dissolved. I cannot understand why 
cremation strikes such a terror to so many hearts, as it is only 
a means of swiftly dissolving the body. You believe it best to 
cremate the bodies of animals for sanitary reasons, and, while 
you admit that man is also an animal, you shrink from cremat- 
ing his dead body. Cremation makes the spirit feel light and 
buoyant. 

759. "I have never been idle for a day or an hour in the 
spirit world, and it has been a source of endless delight for 
me to be able to help those who stand in need of help from 
spirits more advanced than themselves." 

E. K. Coffin. (1276/1 

760. This spirit again comes to us in the condition of visi- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 277 

bility and gives to us a talk in strong sarcasm of the solemn, 
hypocritical mummery of the ministry, saying: "I have quit 
preaching that orthodox God and His orthodox son Jesus Christ. 
Just imagine how it used to be in order to replete the Lord's 
treasury. The good brothers having failed to come down with 
the cash that the Lord gave, or, rather, loaned to them, and 
which they owed to God, the minister would suggest to the 
good sisters a lawn social, and they would go around about the 
neighbors, soliciting for the benefit of the Lord, and everybody 
gave just to help the Lord along, and when the sisters reported 
back how the Lord had given them of the good things of the 
neighbors roundabout, the minister shouted 'Amen!' and an- 
nounced the lawn festival for the next Monday evening, on 
the beautiful grounds of Brother Jones, and God will light up 
the occasion with silvery moon, and bedeck the sky with glit- 
tering diamonds, and fill the tables with His richest viands, and 
dispense them by the fair hands of the good sisters, and every- 
body is invited to come and partake of this gracious repast 
offered to all who would help God in His work of redemption; 
but, while all are invited, no one should forget the pocketbook, 
'For the Lord loveth a cheerful giver,' and twenty-five cents 
turneth away wrath, and one dollar hideth away behind the 
mercy-seat a w T hole multitude of sins. Well, I have found out 
that all this hypocrisy 'is supreme folly,' and if blasphemy be 
possible, that is it; and so I have about quit the habit of talk- 
ing so loosely about God and the Lord Jesus." 

Of course the relatives on earth of this spirit will consider 
these sayings as "buffoonery," falsely attributed, and all ex- 
ceedingly sacrilegious. 

E. V. Wilson 

761. Stands forth in such complete facsimile of himselt 
when in his old earth body as to be readily recognized by the 
circle, and says: "Friends, is it possible for any reasonable 
being to question spirit return in this age of your world's his- 
tory? It seems to me that to do so one must question the 
existence of the soul itself. But some do not care to reason in 
direct line upon this subject. They want to reason from the 
opposite side and on crooked lines. 

762. "But let me say to them: 'You cannot dodge Spirit- 
ualism straight. If you go to the four corners of the earth, 
you will find Spiritualism all the way. And if you flee to the 
mountains and slop over night with the woodman in his cabin, 
you will find Spiritualism there. The miner, the camper, all 
will tell you something of Spiritualism. There is no language 
nor speech where ils voice is not heard, lis line hath gone out 



278 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

through nil the earth, and its words to 1he ends of the world. 
You may undertake to upset your world, you may undertake 
to stop its going, you may try to reverse the motions of the 
starry heavens, and to turn the sun back in his course — you 
may as well undertake all that as to try to blot out Spiritual- 
ism. You can blot out Spiritualism only by blotting yourself 
out. Spiritualism has come to stay, and while the Church sets 
up its opposition to Spiritualism, it plays a boomerang, and in 
a few years your churches and religious dogmas set up and 
supported by the sword of Constantino, as the walls of Zion, 
must tumble to Spiritualism, for Spiritualism is founded in 
eternal truth as the rock upon which it is builded, having its 
superstructure of unfolding humanity, rearing its dome aloft 
and out into the everlasting spheres." 

Daniel O'Brien, 

703. Always through the trumpet, in clear, distinct, loud 
utterance: "How do you all do? How do you do, Mr. Pratt?" 

Circle: "All well at this time." 

Spirit: "I am glad of that. You want to keep well. Y r ou 
want to pray to keep well." 

Circle: "To whom shall we pray, Daniel?" 

Spirit: "Pray to Daniel O'Brien. Just come to me, but 
bring the two dollars." 

Seance No. 55. 

July 1, 1900. 

764. Circle the same as last seance, except Colonel Van 
Horn not present. The seance opened for the intellectual band, 
but shortly was changed to personal phenomena. 

T) r. Feed, 

765. In very tender manner, said : "We thank you, friends, 
for your presence this evening. Soon the medium is to go 
away to attend camp-meeting, but will return a little later 
to go on with the work. We shall not entirely desert you 
while the medium is away. If you feel to need our presence 
or aid in any way, do not forget how near we are to you. Call 
on us for assistance, and such as is possible for us to give you 
shall be given. 

(a) "We are glad that the good ladies [Keepers, of Albu- 
querque] thought so much of this work as to make a journey 
of the long distance from their home to witness and enjoy, 
while in the mortal life, this great privilege. For a very rare 
privilege indeed it is, and one of which they, too, can boast and 
feel proud during their remaining stay in the physical. And 
to all of yon and to all of us as well, what inexpressible glad- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 279 

ness it is that there is a way of return; that, though far away, 
yet so near to you. 

(b) "You see me part these curtains and you see me stand- 
ing in the parting; you hear the words of this voice back to you 
from beyond the tomb. The words cease, this form dissolves 
away, the curtains close and there is only this thin vail be- 
tween us. It would seem that a demonstrative revelation like 
this from the world eternal ought to gladden your whole world." 

Denton., 

766. "We are here on time, always on time. However, 
they say the world was not made in one day. But this is not 
my style of speech. Oh, yes. I believe the good Dr. Schellhous 
has a question on file touching materialization." The spirit 
steps to the writing-desk, picks up a paper, looks at it a mo- 
ment, then says: "Let me have more light on this." Then 
steps to the front of the cabinet, turns his paper so as to be 
more directly in the light, saying: "Whugh! yes, I see. Well, 
Doctor, when you were writing this question, 'What is it, and 
how are the forms made up?' you felt strongly impressed, I 
presume." 

Doctor: "Yes, sir." 

Spirit: "Well, this is all right. You hit it hard. You can 
afford to stand by such impressions." 

But this subject is so well discussed in "Rending the Vail," 
at paragraphs 2412, 2415, 2219, 2221, and in this, "Beyond the 
Vail," that we refer the reader thereto. 

Wesley Aber 

767. Appears at the writing-desk, takes up a tablet, be- 
gins writing, and says in his usual strong oral speech: "It has 
been some time since I gave you anything for the book. I shall 
now write you a little experience I have had in the meantime. 
This may seem almost an impossibility." 

Now the circle all distinctly see the spirit and his motions 
as if he were writing, and hear the sound of the pencil as the 
writing is being done. When a page is written, the leaf is torn 
from the tablet, and the writing on another proceeds until four 
leaves are written full on one side of each, and a copy of the 
writing is at paragraph — . 

Fred Keepers. 

768. Since Mrs. Keepers and her daughter have been here, 
it has developed that she has a son in spirit life whose name 
while on earth was Fred Keepers, and that this Fred was some- 



280 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

times called Freddie. This spirit, as is generally the case, was 
able at first to manifest but feebly, but grew stronger, as we 
call it, until, on this occasion, his form was quite well made 
up and readily recognized by the mother and sister. But the 
spirit was not able to vocalize much above a whisper yet, so 
when he undertook to talk to his mother, he could not do so 
sufficiently clear for his mother and sister to understand all 
that he would say to them; therefore, by direction of the cab- 
inet controls, this spirit stepped near to the secretary, so that 
by aid of the trumpet as a sound-condenser the secretary could 
catch the words uttered by the spirit, which are as follows: 

769. "My mother and sister desire that I say something to 
them that may also be of sufficient interest to insert in 'Beyond 
the Vail.' 

(a) "I passed out of my physical body quite suddenly, and 
while I was not yet old; and having some idea of this glorious 
truth before my transition, I very soon awoke to conscious 
realization of my situation. From the first, and in consequence 
of having lived on earth an upright life, in full sympathy with 
all people, I found I had a good degree of spirituality, which 
passed me well up in society of bright spirits in the spheres, 
and my stay here has been most pleasant indeed. 

(b) "It is a glorious home, over here for those who are pre- 
pared for it, and I meet joyous friends everywhere, but, of 
course we also meet those of lower conditions, just as you do 
on earth. 

770. "When I came to look up my father, I found he has 
not fared quite so well as I have. I am to assist fathers what 
I can. He and sister and others and I join to say to you that 
we are glad you have taken the glorious privilege to meet us 
in this way, for if you use the opportunity and this lesson, 
your souls will be lighter over here. And as you reach this 
side you will find us all here on the farther banks, and by and 
by mother, father, sisters, brother, and children will be re- 
united evermore." 

The New Yorker 

771. Comes again, saying: "My name, sir, is Lee. I have 
not found my fore-name yet, but I have found out what this 
is and where I am. 1 find I am in a seance. Well, this is funny, 
it 's awful funny. They tell me that a seance is a place where 
live people congregate to have the dead people meet them. 
Well, the funny part of it is the dead people are more alive 
than the live people, because the dead people are done dying 
and the live people have vet to die. How did I happen to come 
here? Ho you always ask questions this way? They brought 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 281 

me here to give some of my experience. They said they wanted 
my experience to give versatility to this work. Don't you see 
I am getting on quite well? Just think of a dead fellow having 
to wrestle with such a word as ver-sa-til-i-ty! When I find out 
my front name I will let you know, if I can. But I must go 
now." 

Denton, 

772. At this point some of the circle seem not to compre- 
hend how there is so much difference in the intelligence in 
spirit life, and Denton rushes out talking to that question, say- 
ing: "Why is it that all persons of the earth plane are not of 
the same intelligence? You don't know. But you do know that 
hardly any two persons are of equal intelligence on the same 
line. Some are school-teachers, some are not school-teachers; 
some cannot maintain discipline in school at all, some with dif- 
ficulty, others without any difficulty; some of your pupils are 
adepts in language, and can do nothing at mathematics, and 
vice versa. The fact is you know you have every degree of dif- 
ference in the intelligence of the citizens on your earth, and 
unless you expect death to transform them into somebody else, 
you must expect the same diversity of intelligence over here. 
So the fact is, spirits are not all alike. 

773. "There are spirits, as we have often said here, who 
are opposed to this practical spirit return. We talk to them. 
We reason with them. We show them by facts of the utility 
of spirit return. Finally they come to understand that per- 
haps they had better investigate the matter, and come and see. 
So it was with the fellow who was just here. We had quite a 
serious time getting him to understand anything about this 
matter, but now that he sees the utility for himself he is glad 
we led him in to see this light." 

774. And now comes the artist in very jolly mood, takes 
paper from the box, and in his most exquisite manner makes a 
portrait of a woman, life size, in an exceedingly short time, 
which is recognized as Mary Keepers. 

Maverick, the Cattte King. 

775. This spirit came forth to the condition of visibility, 
saying: "I am Maverick, the cattle man. I realized much money 
out of the business. They used to accuse me of stealing. Well, 
I guess I did get hold of a great many, but did not steal them. 
I just took them when T found them wandering about, just to 
keep the poor cattle from starving. I took them in and fed 
them, you know, out of mere pity, and I thought it nothing but 
right to hold the cattle for their keeping. Since I came to this 



282 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

side I have wandered about and traveled a great deal, and I 
tell you it took me quite a while to get straightened out over 
here, and quite a while to learn of this kind of work; but I 
begin to know more than I formerly did." 

Abraham Lincoln. 

776. When this spirit stands before the circle, he is at 
once recognized, and on this occasion he makes a very brilliant 
appearance, in such realistic make-up as to call forth the re- 
mark around the circle, "How wonderful that is! That is mar- 
velous!" And the spirit speaks, saying: 

(a) "No, friends, this is wonderful only to those who know 
but little about it, nor is it mysterious. We have been years 
in trying to accomplish the work we are now doing here. We 
had so many obstacles to remove, but we are succeeding at last. 

777. "We see you entering upon a political contest that 
will be stubborn, that will be bitter. And the way things seem 
to be shaping now, it looks as if our good friend McKinley will 
be defeated, but things are not always as they seem." 

Seance No. 55 — Continued. 

July 2, 1900. 

778. Seance No. 55 was continued for the benefit of Mrs. 
Keepers and daughter. On this occasion the forms were gen- 
erally very brilliant, and mostly of friends and relatives of 
Mrs. Keepers. The son Fred and daughter Albertina were en- 
abled to make special display, to the great joy and delight of 
their mother and sister. 

779. Fred continued his narrative of last evening, saying: 
"I am glad that mother and sister are here and able to realize 
and enjoy this treat. It will be of great benefit to them, and I 
want to tell my sister now that we do feel very thankful that 
she stood by and cared for our dear mother until this time. 

780. "When father was on earth, he neither knew nor 
cared anything about this truth, so his spirituality was not de- 
veloped when he was called to this side. And of course he met 
some dark conditions over here. Only as one's spirituality 
grows is he in condition to advance. But after a while the 
most lowly advance into brighter and better conditions and all 
earthly shortcomings become properly leveled up, and all be- 
come happy as the cycles roll away." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



2g3 



r 

i 

!■■■■'* 


t h 


i 


1 . \-vf 


".jxr* 








A 

1 


& 







MARY KEEPERS. 



Alary Keepers. 



(795.) 



781. This spirit form, clad in garments exceedingly white, 
and having a shining countenance, addressed Mrs. Keepers as 
mother and Lillie Keepers as sister, and, whispering her own 
name to them, walks back into the cabinet, then right out near 
to her mother and sister, and moves about over the carpet in 
front of the circle, whispering words of cheer and consolation: 
then back into and out of the cabinet three times, moving about 
and whispering as at first; then, stepping to a point near the 
secretary, addressing him, speaks thus: 

781£. "My name is Mary Keepers. The elderly lady over 
there is my mother, and the lady next to mother is my sister. 
and that gentleman Fred, that was just talking to you. is my 
brother. 

(a) "I knew very little of future life at the time I pa 



284 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

out of my body. Had I known more about it, it would have- 
been much better for me. But I soon came to realize my con- 
dition in the spirit world; and I was so glad of assistance that 
it came to me on every hand. And soon the light of the spirit 
world revealed to me glories far transcending all I had ever 
dared to even dream. But others have told you of this beauti- 
ful country more accurately than is in my power to do. 

(&) "Kind sir, please tell my sister there that I am fre- 
quently with her, and shall continue so to be; and that ere long 
she will be able to realize my presence, provided she be faithful. 

(c) "Tell my mother that not a great while until the gates 
will open unto her, and then she will see this daughter and her 
son Fred, and hosts of her kindred and friends gone before, 
and hear their songs of welcome, and be escorted to the beau- 
tiful home that is being prepared for her, where she can sit 
down and rest until strong enough to take up some delightful 
work in the spirit world. And we want mother and sister to 
so treasure up the great revelation given to them while they 
visit with you that it will be joyful to contemplate even away 
over on the spirit side of 'life. I am thankful for this opportu- 
nity. Good-night." 

Thomas Summers. 

782. This spirit is recognized by Mrs. Keepers as her 
brother. He vocalizes well, but not loudly enough to be dis- 
tinctly understood by all of the circle while the automatic 
music is going, and therefore, after full recognition by his sis- 
ter and niece, he takes his stand near to the secretary and re- 
lates his strange experience so that the circle hear enough of 
what the spirit says to judge very well whether the secretary's 
report be true or not, saying: 

783. "My experience, some of it, has been rather curious, 
and the good spirits in control here have asked me to relate 
an incident: 

784. "When on earth I was trained somewhat in the line 
of what you call a religious life. I was told of one Jesus Christ, 
and of a personage by the name of God, who had builded him 
a heaven; and that in the midst of his heaven he had builded 
for himself a great throne, and made him some angels and some 
harps for the angels to play upon. And that when he was set 
upon his throne, and his only boy Jesus Christ to his right 
hand, then the angels shouted and sang and played upon the 
harps and made all heaven melodious. 

785. "And they told me of another fellow who, they said, 
had for his name 'the devil.' And they told me much about 
this fellow's habits and habiliments, and that he ate sulphur, 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 285 

and that the sulphur took fire, and this caused him to belch 
forth sulphurous fumes and smoke and red-hot blazes. 

786. "I was a very good fellow in a general way, and when 
I came 'over Jordan/ as we used to say, I met a great many 
friends, and I thought I was faring very sumptuously. Things 
around me looked very beautiful indeed. But I had not met 
Jesus, and everything about me was too nice for hell. I could 
not understand my situation at all. I could not think there 
was any chance for me but either heaven or hell. Nor could I 
think of heaven without the man God and his only boy Jesus. 

787. "And it came to pass that, as I was looking around 
for God and the throne, I met an old acquaintance by the name 
of Kobinson, who had been here quite a while, and he said to 
me: 'How are you, Thomas? What are you doing away out 
here?' And I said: 'Well, well, Mr. Kobinson! I'm so glad 
to meet you. I 've been wandering around quite a bit, looking 
for the throne whereon our God is seated. Can you conduct 
me thither?' 

78S. "He said: 'Oh, yes, Thomas. I can show you all 
about it. Just follow me right on. 5 

(a) "And soon we came in sight of a curious looking ar- 
rangement, which seemed like an old wooden structure, quite 
large, filled with people,, and people all about it. In the center 
of this huge wooden building was another structure rising quite 
considerably above the level of the people. And upon this plat- 
form was a great chair, and in it was seated a rather portly, 
though somewhat rough-looking man. And to the right and to 
the left of this man were various other personages seated 
roundabout. 

(&) "And Mr. Robinson says: 'There is God in that chair, 
and His son and the lesser beings you see roundabout.' And 
I said: 'You don't pretend to tell me that that man up there 
is God, and that rough construction there His throne?' 

(c) "He said: 'Why, certainly, Thomas. Don't you see 
the whole outline there, and the four and tw T enty elders? And 
don't you hear the people worshiping? All just as it was 
preached.' And I said: 'No, sir, Mr. Robinson. You may take 
that whole business in as a reality, but to me it looks like a 
sham. That fellow up there on that seat is an impostor, and 
you and all those about here all deluded dupes.' 

(d) "And he says: 'Well, Thomas, that is all the God that 
I have found here, and I just thought he was it. But since you 
sized it all up to me, I guess I '11 go on with you to a more seem- 
ing heaven.' 

(e) "And we journeyed on, and that impostor is the near- 
est to God that we have yet attained. 



286 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

789. "And I have concluded that if there is any God other 
than man, or Son of God other than the son of man, they are 
to be found entirely outside the inheritance of man, and in the 
same solitude in which God eternally dwelt before He concluded 
to make man at all. And I rather suspect that all the God 
there is, is in the exact image of man, and that man is this 
God: 'In the image of man made He him.' But the glorious 
spirit world of human spirits is so inexpressibly beautiful, 
grand, and glorious, that the most intelligent inhabitants there- 
of themselves cannot fathom the infinitude of its sublime 
splendors." 

Materialization. 

790. Denton said: "The Dr. Schellhous presented a ques- 
tion as to materialization, desiring to know how the forms are 
made — the entire modus operandi. 

(a) "Now, friends, it is utterly impossible for me, or even 
the alchemist here, Dr. Keed, to do that. We can explain some 
things about it. We have said several times to you that cer- 
tain emanations are given from the medium and the circle; and 
that these emanations are molded into form by the spirit alche- 
mist, and that these forms just fit the spirit because molded 
around and about the spirit. 

(b) "You see the grass growing, but you do not know how 
it grows. You plant the kernel of corn, and it comes forth and 
reproduces corn and the potato reproduces potatoes. You 
know this is done, but the wisest man on your world cannot 
tell how it is all accomplished. 

(c) "We know materialization is done, but we cannot tell 
to your comprehension all about how it is done. We know that 
a spirit chemist is necessary, but that chemist fails to account 
to you or to me for the full process of materialization. Per- 
haps we might tell you more of the process, but it is so much 
beyond the chemical knowledge and skill of your scientists as 
yet, that you would but imperfectly comprehend the matter and 
would misunderstand us and get erroneous ideas concerning 
it. So we conclude that we have said about all on the subject 
that is necessary until the people of earth will have attained 
unto some more perfect knowledge of spiritual things." 

Seance No. 56. 

July 5, 1900. 

791. Eight of the regular circle present. Mrs. Keepers 
and daughter present for the last seance of this visit, and Mrs. 
Flora Wright and daughter, of Cincinnati, Ohio, present as vis- 
itors. Last seance before vacation on account of the camp- 
meeting season. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 287 

Dr. Reed. 

792. The spirit Dr. Reed, in his usual tender manner, gave 
to us these parting words: "To me, my friends, this is indeed 
a glorious work. We have now a successful beginning of a con- 
summation for which we have been laboring a long time, a 
work that your world has sorely needed for ages past. And 
yet no age has ever more sorely needed this work than the 
present age needs it. And when 1 look over the world and see 
the suffering of mankind that is in consequence of ignorance, 
in consequence of unequal conditions, and contemplate that the 
coming peoples of earth will be greatly benefited by this initia- 
tory work of the spirit world among mortals, it is glorious to 
be able to see that good results are inevitable. 

793. "On the other hand, when I see so many grasping, 
grasping for what? For just a little straw, only a bunch of 
straw, of dry husks for the starving soul. It is glorious to real- 
ize the effects of substituting this heavenly manna. It is glori- 
ous to contemplate how fortunate for you people to be permit- 
ted to see and commune, face to face, with these immortal 
hosts, and of knowing your friends over here. 

(a) "On to-morrow our medium goes away for a little 
season of recreation, to return again soon and renew this work. 
In the meantime we shall not desert you entirely, but some of 
us and your own guides will ever be near you on guard." 

794. Wesley Aber follows, continuing his written narra- 
tive to conclusion, and, in order that his effort may be also a 
test case to the circle, the spirit takes the tablet and walks 
about over the floor in front of the circle, tablet open in left 
hand, stands near to one of the circle, holds tablet to the light 
so that every person sees him write, sees the writing come upon 
the paper as the point of pencil traces along the ruled lines of 
the paper, until a page is written. The spirit tears the leaf 
of the writing from the tablet, and writes on as he goes near 
to some other person of the circle, so that one sees the writing 
as did the first, and the spirit tears out a second leaf and steps 
to a third one of the circle, who witnesses the writing as the 
first one did, and so on to eight pages and eight persons of 
the circle, each page containing one hundred words and written 
in ten seconds, making six hundred words written in one min- 
ute. The copy of the writing is at paragraph 1267. 

795. And now comes the artist and makes a portrait which 
Miss Lillie Keepers and her mother distinctly recognize as a 
complete likeness of Marv Keepers, the daughter and sister. 
(Set in at 781.) 



288 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

Seance No. 57. 

September 2, 1900. 

796. After a two-months vacation, seances resumed for 
continuance of procuring matter for the publication, with ten 
of the regular circle, Mrs. Flora Wright and daughter, of Cin- 
cinnati, Ohio, Mr. Hayden, of Indianapolis, and Mr. Cummings, 
of Gardner, Kansas, visitors, present. The long intermission 
and some lightning with thunder and the strangers as new ele- 
ments all together make a confusion of elements not favorable 
to our purpose, and therefore, while there were some good 
forms, there was but little matter given for publication. 

Adela Chism. 

797. This spirit was recognized by Mr. Greenup as one of 
his early day schoolmates, and then she gave a little lesson of 
experience, saying: "In our youthful days Mr. Greenup and I 
were schoolmates. Those days were the happiest days of earth 
life. The morning air was most balmy. The summer sun shone 
most brightly. June roses were the sweetest, and autumnal 
scenes the most pleasant. All things were full of music, and 
after my later years, as seems to most people, I was called 
away from the old troublesome world to this side of life, and 
here all the pleasant and joyfully sweet sensations of my youth- 
ful days on earth were presented, and mine to enjoy. And all 
things that I have met so far in this beautiful country reflect 
upon my inmost being the glorious glad morning of my school- 
days on earth. The good old mother of earth, when trans- 
planted to these Elysian regions, grows young again and lives 
on in eternal youth. 

Gena Dwight. 

798. This spirit said: "When I left the mortal, I left there 
a husband and little boy, who are now in possession of the 
facts of future life and spirit return, and that is a comfort to 
me and enables me to draw very near to them at times, and to 
be instrumental in leading them along. And as often as I can, 
I am in their presence for their benefit, and all that is causing 
me to take on a wonderful degree of soul-growth, and is pre- 
paring me for higher spheres." 

Seance No. 58. 

September 6, 1900. 

799. At this seance were only the regular circle. The con- 
ditions being fairly good, the phenomena and intellectuality 
were excellent. Eeed opened the seance with much hope of a 
•successful one at this time. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 289 



Denton, 



800. Seemingly impatient to fill his part of the play, speak- 
ing in his best condition of vocalization, said: "Quite an inter- 
mission since I have been manifest on these boards, but the 
good work goes steadily on. The elements in here the last 
two evenings retarded us. Friends, it is best for you to have 
the proper elements here for this work. Not only best for us 
and best for the work in hand, but best for you," that you be' 
careful to have elements that harmoniously blend. 

(a) "I do not come here to dictate, but to instruct. This 
evening seems like old times, and we want to keep you all right 
until our work be done. I don't say how long time that may be, 
but much less time with harmonious elements. Neither all old 
elements remain good nor all new elements are bad for us, but 
it is best to duly consider and ascertain." 

801. Just here Dr. Schellhous introduced a letter from 
Mrs. M. J. Humphreys, Washington, D. C, in which the writer 
relates of having read "Rending the Vail," and thereby becom- 
ing somewhat confused as to the question of continuity of indi- 
viduality of lower animals in the spirit world, and desiring that 
the matter be spread before the spirits here for further elucida- 
tion. Whereupon the spirit said: "Animals in the spirit world. 
Yes, I see. Perhaps I had better write that out. Let me see 
Dr. Reed a moment." 

(a) Then the spirit went into the cabinet and made inquiry 
of Reed, who told Denton that "it would be well to write that 
and make it so clear as not to be misunderstood." The circle 
at the time, of course, heard the conversation of the two spir- 
its in the cabinet. 

(b) Denton again came out to the arena table, and, as he 
picked up and opened a tablet and began to write, he said: 
"Yes, it seems difficult to get this matter clear, although we 
have often spoken and written of it in these seances. (There 
is one page written for you.) But people will want to get new 
ideas, and — (There is part of another page for you.)' 7 Hands 
the writing to the secretary, saying: "Mr. Secretary, here it is as 
plain as — yes, sir, that writing is as plain as we can make it. 
Dr. Schellhous, of course this is for the book, but you can in- 
form the good lady of the substance, but not a copy." 

802. The following is a copy of the writing, to-wit: "We 
have said many times that there are spirits of animals in the 
spirit world. Therefore, their spirits must live on forever, just 
as the spirit of man, the highest production of the animal 
kingdom. If the spirit of a single living being were annihilated, 
that would mean the overthrow of creation itself. 

(a) "True, the spirits of lower animals do not progress as 

BV 19 



290 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

those of man. The Indian's idea of a happy hunting-ground is 
based on fact. When he enters spirit life, he has his pony and 
his dogs until he progresses to a point where they are no more 
necessary for his happiness. 

(b) "There are no animals in the higher spheres of spirit 
life, and this, I think, has given rise to the idea that, after a 
certain period of time, their spirits are annihilated. But this 
latter clause is not true. The spirits of animals are as inde- 
structible as you or I. Denton." 

Abner Gile. 

803. Here is a spirit who, in his earth life, came into pos- 
session of rather a large fortune for a person of his locality, 
Wisconsin. And this fortune, it seems, was accumulated large- 
ly from milling into lumber timber of Government lands, and 
handling lumber so made. 

804. His brother, Dr. T. J. Gile, was less fortunate, hav- 
ing accumulated nothing in a financial way; but had made quite 
thorough search into the merits of Spiritualism, and was one 
of this circle during several weeks of the preparation of "Rend- 
ing the Vail," and about that time Abner Gile passed on to 
spirit life, and now, by invitation of this psychic band, stands 
in materialized form before this circle, saying: 

(a) "I am Abner Gile, and I am glad to be here in this way r 
to tell of some things I found when I got to this country. And, 
of course, about the first thing I learned was that my brother 
was about right in this matter. I thought it bothered him. I 
thought it troubled his mind. I tried to hold him back and 
away from it. But I begin to think it was my own mind that 
was off. I was pursuing dark shadows, and he the light. I was 
piling up treasures that I had to leave behind and their bane 
binds me in dark conditions and shuts me up in dark prison; 
makes of me a 'spirit in prison.' While my brother was casting 
bread upon the waters for which I now hunger, and of which 
he may eat and be satisfied, my wealth, instead of a blessing,, 
is a great curse to me. I cannot explain to you how I have 
been confined in darkness. What light I had was of itself the 
most profound darkness, for I find the church dogmas are abso- 
lutely false. 

(b) "I wish I had known these things, but I did not. I 
would not try to know the truth of future life and its relations, 
but scorned whoever did try to learn. So I had no teacher 
when I got here, but have to work it out alone. Each must 
work out his own salvation. I wish all your world could know 
what I know now. But T helped to keep the world in ignorance,, 
and now must try to turn on the light." 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 291 

Dr. Bucannana. 

805. This spirit now comes to us again, saying: "I am 
glad to be here. This is indeed a great pleasure. I am here 
to try to tell you some of my experience. You have no idea, 
friends, how ignorant some people are in spirit life, nor how 
hard, how difficult it is to renovate some of the stubborn cases, 
but they may learn after awhile. 

(a) "I do not come here to talk politics, but I must say 
that I find your country in awful straits. Your political contest 
now coming on may be hard and bitter. But in this election 
it is but little difference to you who is elected or who defeated. 

806. "The only way to get your country back to primitive 
rock is to make legislators of men who are statesmen and 
patriots and humanitarians, and true Spiritualists. I say "true*? 
because not all, by any means, are honest. There are whited 
sepulchres among Spiritualists just as anywhere else. 

807. "In the spirit world are different grades of spirits. 
The lowest grade being but little above the animal. The con- 
dition of development determines the grade of each individual. 
But by the law of development all grades continually move 
upward. Some individuals move on much more rapidly than 
others. As one moves out of a grade, another takes the place, 
graduating from a lower grade or plane. Your well-regulated, 
graded schools of earth do very fairly parallel spirit world con- 
ditions of unfoldment, and this development is going on all the 
time. Many, as they learn of this return here, endeavor to find 
their way in." 

808. One we did not identify said: "I find it don't do to 
deny this great truth. I find that such as do deny and persist 
in their denial in the face of an opportunity to learn of the fact 
are placed in no enviable condition when they get here. I was 
one of those. Not from any cause but from my own stubborn- 
ness. It was not what I had thought or been taught. And 
when I met the bare fact I was too stubborn to accept it. But 
there stood the hot fact which at last burned through my stub- 
born selfishness, and like that stubborn animal pulling back, I 
had at last to clear the whole road. And so I found it don't 
do one any good to set up his stubborn will against this 
mighty moving avalanche of eternal truth." 

Lucy Wright. 

809. A spirit, after the manner of the women forms here, 
stood forth, saying: "My name is Lucy Wright. I found and still 
have a happy condition on this side of life. I am going on to 
higher attainments. This is a beautiful, a glorious countrv. I 



292 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

was not gifted at descriptive conversation, and cannot convey 
to you an adequate idea of what delights I am enjoying." 

Margaret Dayton. 

810. A bright spirit teacher in the kindergartens of the 
spirit world made herself very familiar with her sister, Mrs. 
House, and to Mr. House. Then to the secretary she said: 
"I am yet engaged in my juvenile missionary work, and 1 hope 
to have some of my children come here with me before a great 
while." 

Mamie Olney, 

811. In her usually brilliant display, was at once identi- 
fied by all the circle from her appearance. She said: "It does 
no good to speak to my people of this great truth. But they 
will learn after awhile how much they are losing. I feel sorry 
for them, but not so much as I did. I see that they must find 
out by sad experience how greatly they misuse their opportu- 
nities. How much soever their boast of well-grounded faith in 
their salvation, they will greatly fear to die as that sure event 
shall approach near unto them." 

Seance No. 59. 

September 9, 1900. 

William Spraggs. 

812. It appears that this spirit was once a citizen of this 
vicinity and well known to Mr. and Mrs. House; that on some 
former occasions he has appeared at these seances to the rec- 
ognition of Mr. House and wife; that a number of years ago 
he went to the Eocky Mountain mining regions aud lost his life 
in a mine, as he now describes while standing to view of the cir- 
cle. He began talking orally, but in an undertone, and gradu- 
ally increased his voice in volume to good conversational 
speech, saying: 

, 813. "Did you ever have a feeling of being smothered up 
under ground? If so, you can realize what my feelings were, 
for a moment, when I was under that dirt. Then it seemed 
that I with everything was falling. All was intense darkness. 
In a little while I began to see light. Then I soon found I was 
out of that mine, but in a strange country, and then in a little 
while I found I was out of the old body as well as out of 
that mine, and I am glad to come here again, this time to tell 
you of some of my experiences, and some of them on earth 
were pretty rough. In fact, some people thought I was some- 
what rough. In summing the whole matter up, it seems now 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 293 

that I was no worse than many others, no worse than some 
who would condemn me. 

814. "I find there is a great difference in spirit life as 
between one another of the inhabitants there, in a great many 
respects. I find that the standard of judgment in spirit life 
is often very different from that of the earth. On earth one 
is judged by his conformity to conventionalities, his standing 
according to the sentiment of the society in which he is placed. 
He is judged by what he is as a man, as a woman, according 
to some popular notion, perhaps prejudice. Here the stand- 
ard of judgment is one's self according to his opportunities; 
and, being judged here according to one's own self, makes 
an immense number of differences. I find that this is a freer 
country than that in the matter of advancement. Persons can 
develop as rapidly as they wish, but their desires to advance 
are modified by their natural dispositions there, as when they 

•reach here; especially as to the condition of spirituality. 

815. "So my advice to the poor creatures of earth is: Try 
to live good lives. Try to do to all people as you would have 
them do unto you. This course of life develops spirituality 
and in the spirit world you find this is the standard of judg- 
ment. Hoping that you may all strive for this as your judg- 
ment standard, I shall try to meet you in such judgment. My 
name is William Spraggs." 

Why People Radically Change Their Minds Soon after Transition. 

816. Spirit Professor Denton, in his most eloquent and 
elaborate manner, said: "Friends, of course I am delighted 
to communicate an elucidation of an idea touching any man- 
ner of condition in the spirit^life, whenever it is mine to do so. 

(a) "And it is often wondered why spirits change their 
minds so readily when they get to the spirit world. For in- 
stance, your neighbors oppose the work of Spiritualism, some- 
times to a bitter extent. They denounce you. They would 
ostracize you. They would anathematize you all and pretend, 
at least, to look upon Spiritualism and Spiritualists with scorn 
and contempt. 

(&) "Yonder goes the doctor; a few days later the under- 
taker. Someone has dropped the mortal and gone to spirit 
life. This one despised everything pertaining to Spiritualism, 
and perhaps denounced you. A few days later, in the midst 
of one of your seances, unexpectedly you see a strange form 
among you. It struggles at first in trying to speak, but soon 
tells you its name. Then gets to be more plainly seen. Soon 
you recognize it as your neighbor who was opposed to this 
truth, and to you because of it, and presently it is able to 
talk to you, and says: 

(c) "Well, friends, I am glad to be here myself now. I 



294 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

have found myself alive and out of my body, and now I find 
myself here. I found my friends that I did not know whence 
they had gone. I found these over here all joyous and happy. 
And I find that your Spiritualism is glorious, eternal truth, 
and, oh, how I do now wish I had taken the chance to know 
of this before! And now, my friends, my dear friends, yet in 
the mortal — if you tell them I still live, they won't believe 
it. Yet I know, and after awhile they too will know, that it 
is true. And, oh, friends, please excuse my stubborn ignorance. 

817. "And this one comes again and tells you that he 
did not find his Savior, that he did not meet his God, that he 
did not find his heaven and golden throne, and on it a court 
to sentence you people to an eternal hell. But that he did 
find his people, his friends, his wife, his mother, his sisters 
and brothers, all there in one beautiful country joyously happy. 
And you say: 'Oh, what a change!' And your neighbors say. 
'How is it that that spirit has made such radical changes of 
opinions in such short time, when no power on earth could 
change him before he died?' 

818. ''Some come to spirit life who are so grounded in 
false religious tenets that no earthly power would change 
them in one hundred years, and who on earth rejected every 
opportunity to modify their religious ideas. But the moment 
their eyes are opened in spirit life they find their neighbors 
and acquaintances and some despised spirit of a Spiritualist, 
and all happy. But others they see in a condition of hell. They 
hunt round and find not their God nor their Jesus nor their 
devil they had fixed up for you. And they find no spirit that 
ever found such personages. And the fact at last stares them 
in the face wherever they go and every way they turn that 
they were stubborn, ignorant dupes on earth. And they say: 
'Well, if so much was false, I want to tell my people of earth 
about it, and maybe there is some way of return.' x\nd the 
good spirits tell them there is, and show the way. And thus 
they return to you, asking your pardon, and to 'Please tell 
my mother or father or sister that I was here. That I have 
found this to be the truth, the way.' 

(a) "And you tell the people what the spirits say, and 
they question our veracity, they question our ability to give 
information of conditions in the realms beyond the tomb, they 
question without having considered one moment whether pos- 
sible or not. They never take one sensible step to ascertain a 
single scientific fact on this subject. 

Cb) "I tell yon, friends, here to-night, not long — only a 
short time, and some of these ignorant bigots will have crossed 
over into the broad light of these facts about future life and 
spirit return; and to get themselves out of the darkness sur- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 295 

rounding their ignorant conditions they will be asking your 
pardon and inviting you to send a gleam along their way. 

819. "Who shall know of spirit life but someone dwelling 
there? Why do they question us more than they would ques- 
tion a traveler of your world returning from some foreign 
land in relating its history? Why should they suppose we 
would allow one spirit in here to make you an untruthful 
statement of fact as to the spirit life? 

820. "No, friends, before we allow any spirit here to 
make a report to you of his experience, we put him to more 
severe tests as to his character for truth and veracity than 
you people of earth ever do one of your world; and what we 
allow reported here you will find, when you get over here, is 
reported just as truthfully, faithfully, as the most trusted of 
earth would report to you in matters of grave importance. 
And your enemies or opponents will find that out when they 
get here and are compelled to change their minds as fast as 
their eyes are opened so they can see at all." 

The artist made a portrait of an Indian. (No. 29.) And 
on a second sheet made three cabinet size face portraits. 

Seance No. 60. 

September 13, 1900. 

821. Visitors, Mr. Cummins and wife. 

The Great Tidal Wave over Galveston. 

Dr. Keed, standing forth in visible form, said: 
"Good-evening, friends. That was a great calamity, pass- 
ing many people out of their physical lives without a moment's 
warning. This may seem, does seem, like a hard fate. It may 
look like dealing harshly and with partiality, but, after all, 1 
think it is well. I may say that I know it is best. And when 
you can make a view from a high plane, on this side, you will 
be able to know as I do. Some of those people knew of future 
life, but the great majority did not. Some of those people 
attended seances of this medium." 

822. The spirit Professor Denton, continuing the Galves- 
ton overflow of waters, said: 

"Friends, T am glad to be here with you, and I know that 
you are glad to be here also. You can see that little do you 
know of the length of your life in the physical. You know 
that you walk the earth to-day in the physical condition, but 
you do not know what moment some unforeseen event will 
transport you into spirit life. 

823. "Had those poor souls known of tins truth, it would 
have proven a blessing to them now. But they did not know 



296 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

of it, and greater burdens they have to bear, except a few of 
them who did have some knowledge of this truth, and they 
have advantage of that knowledge which, though ever so 
slight, will be called into immediate use to the advantage of 
the person in proportion to his knowledge and wise use 
thereof." 

The spirit lost control of his form and returned into the 
cabinet to recruit; but in a moment reappeared, saying: 

824. "Pardon me for coming again. I had to return for 
strength. As I have traveled the last few days I find people 
are becoming more liberal and are waking up to the thought 
of future existence and the churches are surely growing less 
popular. 

825. "The so-called church has done more than all else 
to make your world miserable. And it were not so bad if it 
had stopped at the grave, but the unhallowed influence of 
false teachings leaps the boundaries of the tomb and fetters 
the soul in spirit life. 

(a) "The church almost universally fosters the spirit of 
war among people and nations, and true happiness cannot 
dwell in the same soul with the war spirit. 

826. "The life policy of a soul of such spirituality as 
brings to it peace and happiness is that which recognizes the 
common brotherhood of man and walks the earth doing naught 
to others that he would not have them return. 

(a) "It is when your soul goes out and helps and tries to 
help your fellows, that you are happy. But those trying to 
create war and bloodshed cannot be happy." s 

Original Sin and Redemption Absurdity. 

827. The spirit Colonel R. G. Ingersoll, standing in the 
condition of visibility to the circle, spoke in manner and vol- 
ume of voice very much as while in the mortal, saying: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. To think that God Almighty 
gave a prescription for one, and another took it, and that one 
was sent to an endless hell for taking that liniment by mis- 
take. A nice God that! 

(&) "And the poor woman has born unto her household 
innocent babes, and they too must languish in endless hell be- 
cause of the mistaken liniment. A glorious God idea that! 

828. "But long afterward God made and prescribed an 
antidote for the original bite of this venomous serpent, and all 
babes were healed that looked upon and believed in this box 
of redemption salve and all babes could very easily understand 
and believe in the redemption liniment, and this would pro- 
duce universal salvation if all would die while little babes, but' 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 297 

some of them do not die while they are little babes, but live 
on, being bright little ones, learning very fast. Temptation 
liniment is placed all about them, and they learn what they 
see and hear. The little souls take in the prescriptions set 
before them, whether true or false. They cannot help what 
they see nor avoid what they hear. The medicine, good or bad, 
for their souls, is forced upon the childhood and later, and the 
soul grows into shape according to the prescriptions forced 
upon it both" before and after birth, and you have just the kind 
of men and women that the substance of the prescriptions must 
necessarily make. Therefore many souls are very crooked 
and liable to an endless hell for having crooked souls not of 
their own choosing. 

Proper Treatment of Children. 

829. (a) "If you would not have the little one grow up 
imbued with the war spirit, do not feed its soul on that kind 
of liniment: whipping it, beating it, cursing it, swearing before 
it. If you hate it, it will learn to hate you, and perhaps wan- 
der away from home. 

(&) "But if a little one does wrong, you forgive it, tenderly 
call it to you, take it in your arms, gently caress it, let its lit- 
tle head press softly on your bosom where it can hear your 
heart slowly, steadily beating your life away. There the lit- 
tle one sweetly slumbers. No sobs and disturbing dreams be- 
cause of a father's cruel, cold-hearted treatment. See that 
sweet smile on the little sleeper's cheeks— some beautiful 
dream! 

(c) "It matters not how low my children go down, they 
know there is one to whom they can flee. They know they are 
welcome to a father's arms. They know that father will not 
cast them away from his heart, from his bounty, be that large 
or small. 

(d) "Remember that your children will lie if you do. Re- 
member that if you do lie to them, they find it out earlier than 
you are aware. And oh, friends, remember, too, that if you 
treat the little ones kindly, tenderly, forgivingly, for doing 
wrongfully after your own or some other's pattern set before 
them, they will respect you, will think it over, and some time 
be benefited. And when away from home will dream and sing 
of home, sweet home. And no greater heaven on earth than 
to visit the old home once more before kind parents go hence. 
Let the little ones be thus treated, and wherever they be they 
will always remember there is a friend at the old home; and 
instead of war and hate, peace for all the world will be the 
song of coming generations." 



298 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

830. The speeches of Denton and Ingersoll had produced 
such intense thought of the circle that it must be relieved, and 
our Daniel O'Brien is equal to the emergency, at the trumpet 
in repartee, with the circle all round a few moments, in his own 
inimitable Irish brogue; and then Wesley, as amanuensis, came 
to the condition of visibility at the writing-desk, saying: 

(a) "Friends, a gentleman here has an experience which 
he wishes to have me write for him, and I consent to try to 
do so. Therefore what he says to me I shall write to you." 
And immediately the spirit Wesley began writing in a tablet, 
tearing the leaves written upon out of the tablet to the num- 
ber of five, containing all together four hundred and fifty words 
whispered to Wesley by the spirit. 

Ralph ScheUhous 

831. Speaks as follows: 

(a) "Doctor Reed has asked me to write a few words 
about my passing from the earth life to spirit life. As I can 
not master this mode of writing, he has kindly furnished me 
with an amanuensis. 

(b) "I passed to this life by drowning. I presume you 
have often been told that drowning is an easy death. I have 
experienced it, my friends, and can tell you that it is a terri- 
ble death. The only thing to recommend it is that the suffer- 
ing is soon over. It is horrible to find yourself sinking down 
and be unable to help yourself. I can't tell you how Jong this 
sensation lasted, but it seemed to me it lasted for hours; but 
I have been told since that it was only a few minutes. 

(c) "My next sensation was of floating, floating gently up- 
ward; and I was astonished to find myself at last in a beautiful 
park. Oh, the heavenly music that greeted my ears just as 
one entranced by the melody of numerous instruments all play- 
ing in perfect harmony. I could not see the players, and yet 
the musi^ seemed very near to me. 

(d) "Soon I was approached by the beautiful spirit of a 
woman. She was so radiant that I was sure I was dreaming, 
and I did not try to speak to her. She glided steadily towards 
me, and, placing her hand upon my head, she said: 'My dear 
boy, I have been waiting for you. Is not the spirit world beau- 
tiful?' I replied that I did not know whether it was beautiful 
or not, as I had never seen it. She then told me that I was 
in spirit life. At first I could not believe her, for everything 
seemed so natural, the flowers, the grass, the trees, and the 
sound of running waters. When I noticed the sound of water 
it sent a shudder through me as I remembered going down 
with no one to help me. She seemed to know just how I felt, 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 299 

for she said: 'Come, my boy, it is all over now. Never again 
will you have the sensation of drowning.' 

(d) "This spirit took me to the most beautiful home I have 
ever seen. There I found many companions of my own age, 
and soon I became happy. 

(e) "I often visited my earth home and would have given 
almost anything to have been able to let them see the beautiful 
home I was in. 

(/) "I play in one of the celebrated concert bands of the 
spirit world, and if you could hear their music, you would lose 
all taste for the music of your plane. Ralph." 

832. Dr. E. J. Scbellhous, of this circle, says that this 
"Ralph Schellhous was the son of C. M. Schellhous, and was, 
at the age of four years, so skillful at performing on the vio- 
lin as to play before public audiences with much applause. At 
the age of seven he played in Woodward's Garden, San Fran- 
cisco, to the delight of vast audiences; and at the age of twelve 
he won the silver cup at a musical tournament for which the 
best musicians of five counties were contesting, at Fresno City, 
California, in May, 1886. In the following August he was 
drowned." 

Alice Cary. 

833. There came out from the cabinet a form in the simil- 
itude of a young woman dressed in garments white and shin- 
ing, and held to the view of the circle quite an amount of 
white pongee; then unfolded and spread the same out, and then 
threw it about the head and neck and shoulders; and then step- 
ping to the usual point for vocalization, facing the circle to 
northeast, left hand to cabinet and right hand and side to the 
trumpet which is suspended by cord from ceiling, so that large 
large end of the trumpet was about twelve inches from spirit's 
face, and the small end of the trumpet at the secretary's left 
ear. The length of the trumpet was about thirty inches. The 
spirit whispers so that several of the circle hear most of 
what the spirit utters, and the trumpet enables the secretary 
to hear plainly all that the spirit says. And as the spirit began 
speaking, she threw the pongee across the left arm, and as the 
speaker advanced with the talk she very modestly made gestic- 
ulations with wonderful and amazing appropriateness, saying: 
"My name is Alice Carv. 

834. "By invitation of this noble band of spirits I am 
here in the pleasing task of trying to report to your world a 
little thought concerning the glorious splendor of this beauti- 
ful world as I have been permitted to experience. And it seems 
I came here with my soul all attuned for most pleasing realiz- 
ations. But oh, mv friends, I cannot find words more fitting 



300 BETOND THE VAIL. 

than to tell you that that little poem, 'Isle of the Blest/ was 
not a dream, but if you consider it glorious reality and if you 
please to receive it in that light, I will try to quote it in par- 
ody of that grand realization, as you will one day know: 

"A scene sublime in a sunny clime 

Where balmiest breezes blow; 
Where mountains loom and landscapes bloom 

In one eternal glow! 
Give me my lyre! I feel the fire 

Ne'er seen by mortal sight. 
Oh, country grand, thou summer-land, 

I 'm fainting with delight ! 

"And sunny isles of woman's smiles, 

And bloom on silvery sea, 
And in their groves of angel loves 

Swells music wild and free. 
Oh, list! Those strains, those grand refrains, 

What harmony divine! 
And hark! I hear in accents clear 

The voices of lang syne. 

"Oh, hark! Again I hear that strain 

That fills my soul with light; 
Whose music rare doth thrill the air 

With strange and wild delight. 
And concord sweet in all we meet 

With no discordant jars; t 

Here all things move in perfect love, 

Like marches of the stars." 

835. We find this poem of which the above is in parody 
in "The Spiritual Harp," on page 65 and numbered 86. 

Mary Cliesney. 

836. This spirit announced this name, and was in appear- 
ance as the one just gone, except in manner of speech and 
voice, though in a whisper, and be it borne in mind that those 
spirits who speak only in whisper do so with as much distinctly 
different individuality of voice as persons in common oral con- 
versation. Rut this spirit seemed to be all absorbed in caring 
for spirits of the fatalities of the Galveston storm and flood 
of waters, saying: 

(a) "I have been in spirit life of sufficient duration to 
have an assignment to the reception department on this side; 
and part of our duty is to give comfort and solace to such as 
are grief -stricken because of the sudden severing of social ties; 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 301 

not actual severing, but so seeming to those suddenly taken 
out of the mortal. 

(6) "And I am here to describe as well as I can the act- 
ual scenes over here as these seemingly unfortunates come up 
out of those stormy waters divested of their mortal bodies. 
And here they come to us — not one, or two, or three, but one 
thousand, five thousand, and more. Some not awakened to con- 
sciousness, some just waking, some passed out without hardly 
a moment of unconsciousness, but few realize for some time 
that they are in the spirit condition, and as their conscious- 
ness returns, their thoughts are toward their strongest ties, 
mothers calling for their lost babes: 'Where is my child, my 
dear little Charlie?' And others: 'My little sister, my mother, 
my father, my husband, my wife!' Oh, what a commotion of 
feeling all around one hears! Same as with you, and for the 
time it is awful, it is horrible. 

(c) "The same intense feelings out of the old earthly body 
as when in that body, and those feelings just as discernible to 
spirit sensation in spirit life as to the person in the physical, 
only the mode of expression and reception has changed. And 
you have been favored this night with an experience applica- 
ble to most of the thousands who were drowned in these wild 
waters, thousands of them, but many thousands of us to sing 
to them, to talk to them, to soothe them on from being so held 
by earthly ties into formation of new relations and ties to be 
as enduring as eternal ages. But duty calls me back, and I 
must go. Good-night." 

George Combe. 

837. Dr. Schellhous, having often expressed a desire, to 
hear from this spirit, is now answered by the visible presence 
of a spirit form standing in front of him, beckoning toward 
him and saying to him: "I am George Combe, of the "Consti- 
tution of Man," and I am very glad to meet and see you here. 
I find that my work was a good one for your world at the time, 
and I find also^hat the fundamental principles of phrenology 
are true; but Spiritualism comprehends all, far exceeds much 
beyond all I had ever imagined, even encompassing phrenol- 
ogy, biology, the constitution of man and his relations to time 
and eternity, and is the all in all of everything. My good 
friend, do you remember the anecdote of the man who applied 
to me as an attorney to take his case, and I replied, 'No, sir; 
I do not want your case; go home, and soon it will come out 
all right'?" 

Sehellhous: "Yes, yes, Mr. Combe, I well remember that." 
Spirit: "That is sufficient. My time is gone and I must 
go. Goodnight." And the spirit vanished. 



302 BETOND THE TAIL. 

Seance No. 61. 

September 16, 1900. 

838. Sam, speaking for the spirits on the question of the 
correctness of the secretary's report of the last meeting, said 
that Colonel Ingersoll says that his speech, as given in the min- 
utes, is not correct, but that at some other time Mr. Ingersoll 
will state the errors. Mrs. Aber thinks the record does not con- 
tain quite all the Colonel said. (The record is now corrected 
as the spirit desired.) 

Experiences to be Given by Amanuensis. 

839. Dr. Reed, in opening, said: "There are some spirits 
having experiences who are not yet able to write in this way, 
and we have concluded to furnish them an amanuensis in order 
to get the work along on some better time and to make it a 
little more concise." 

Charles Darwin. 

840. A spirit whom we did not recognize from his appear- 
ance or voice said: 

(a) "This is Darwin, of the 'Origin of Species' and 'Descent 
of Man.' 

(b) "I am much pleased to have the opportunity in this 
way to say a word concerning my publications. I find that 
while there is some wholesome truth in my works, yet one of 
the two fundamental thoughts is erroneous. 

(c) "I gave what I conceived to be truth as the best avail- 
able means at that time would permit. 

(d) "I have been trying to reach and investigate the planet 
Jupiter." 

Prophecies and Their Fulfillment. 

841. Denton said: "You have been told a number of 
times that there would be many calamities during this pres- 
ent year, and they have come all along the line. 

(a) "We did not say in what places these calamities would 
occur, but we told you that there would be more life lost from 
storms, from casualties, from pestilence, famine, and war than 
ever in a single year during the past century. Now if you look 
up the record, you will find we divined the matter truthfully, 
and we see there is more coming. 

(b) "We cannot do much at controlling these things from 
our plane, but there are spirits beyond us who are sufficiently 
wise to almost control, and sometimes they do control the ele- 
ments; but I cannot, unless to a very limited extent, do more 
than to learn of some coming events and avert the threatened 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 303 

dangers to a few by timely warning. I wish I had greater abil- 
ity to control these things. However wise and powerful higher 
intelligences may be, it seems probable that they are not at 
all times able to absolutely control events. Yet even I may 
be able, after awhile, to stay some of these things." 

Experience Dictated to Spirit Amanuensis. 

842. Emma Chesney, a spirit, dictates an experience 
which the spirit Wesley Aber, as amanuensis, writes down on 
paper. As the spirit begins to w^rite, he also begins to talk r 
saying: "A lady asks me to write for her, and I am going to 
do so. We are anxious to rush this matter along." The circle 
see the amanuensis while he writes, and part of the time hear, 
but do not see, the spirit dictating. The amanuensis wrote 
upon four leaves, tore them from the tablet, walked across the 
room, gave the four leaves to the secretary, and the following 
is a correct copy of the writing as found to be upon those 
papers, to-wit: 

(a) ''I came to your seance the other evening with Sister 
Mary and the gentleman in charge, Dr. Reed, I believe his 
name is, requested me to tell you of the work we have been 
engaged in for the last week at Galveston. 

(b) "I am a member of a band of spirits whose mission 
is to succor spirits who stand in need of succor; and when ter- 
rible calamities, such as befell Galveston, take place, we are 
on hand to take charge of the newborn spirits. While kind 
hands have been caring for their bodies we have as tenderly 
cared for their spirits. 

(c) "You ask why, if we knew this would happen, why did 
we not warn the people? Friends, hundreds were warned, but 
they heeded not the warning. 

(d) "Our work began the night of the storm and is still 
going on. I would not, if 1 could, describe to you the horrors 
of such a night. The heart-rending cries of mothers torn from 
their children, the wails of the little ones for their natural pro- 
tectors! It is at such times as this that we find it so diffi- 
cult to convince spirits that they are out of the body. They will 
persist in trying to save those dear to them, and even to-day 
some have walked the streets wringing their hands and with 
hungry eyes searching for their loved ones. 

(e) "One poor soul in my charge to-day would wring her 
hands and say, 'I am safe; oh, if I could only know that John 
was safe!' And in spite of all our arguments she would not 
allow us to take her where she could see John. He was among 
the living, and she was numbered with the dead. She, how- 
ever, would not believe this, but thought it preposterous. 



304 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(/) "Our stock of patience, however, is inexhaustible, and 
we bear with them until we can convince them that we are 
right and they are wrong. 

(g) "It is a grewsome sight to see a powerfully built man 
who has passed out thus suddenly, searching and weeping for 
those he thinks have been taken from him. And when you con- 
vince him that they are living and he dead, to hear him curse 
the fate that has taken him from them. 

Qi) "We have less trouble with the children, for they are 
more teachable, and easily forget their sorrows. 

(Signed) "Emma Chesney." 

843. The artist in his usual unique and expeditious man- 
ner made portrait No. 2S, the same being in likeness of the 
spirit Wesley Aber, set in at 1261. 

Robert G. Ingersoll 

844. Said to the secretary: "You have some small mis- 
take in your report of my little speech the other evening." 
Then the spirit stated the errors in full, which were three, but 
in compiling that speech, found beginning at paragraph 827, 
the corrections were made, so that the speech as there now is 
at least substantially, if not absolutely, correct, verbatim. And 
now the spirit continues a moment giving his present idea of 
worldly wealth, to-wit: 

845. "I understand riches, worldly wealth, not so much 
as I used to. I find now that true happiness abides* not with 
him of vast accumulations of money or property. 

846. "The one in the lowly hut, with his loving, content- 
ed wife and children, is the one to be envied. The poor man 
thinks of his family, of his wife and little ones, is concerned 
about them, has his mind there, looks on them with love, and 
they on him. Though in a cabin, the fire burns for them. The 
storms of winter howl about them, but warm hearts all at 
home, not much of a home, as the rich do count, but yet it is 
home, sweet home. There in that hut, with little though suf- 
ficient morsel, is heaven, is peace on earth. 

847. "But the rich man has his mind, his affections, on 
his worldly treasure. He is always in danger of losing it, often 
does sustain losses; must think up some way to recover, some 
way to more than recover. His family in a mansion; though 
filled and glittering with all the bright things of this world, 
yet it is an empty, hollow mockery, love gone out. Warm 
hearts beat not there, because all are sordid; so if you look 
into those homes, you find no contentment there. The more 
property, the more money they have the more they want. And 
thus this ever-growing, grasping desire shuts out all of heav- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 305 

en's sunshine from a home in a gilded mansion. In humble 
homes the most happiness dwells." 

Rogers. 

848. Comes now a spirit into the condition of visibility, 
talking in a peculiar manner, enabling the circle to recognize 
him as one Rogers, who has called on us heretofore, but the 
fore-name we have not learned. This spirit now says: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. This is a great country in 
which you live, a great country indeed. You can better appre- 
ciate the beauties of your world when contemplated from the 
standpoint of this side. You can better understand it here 
than while you remain there. Just think of the little butter- 
cups, the beauty of the lilies, the little orchids, and great con- 
tinents and islands carpeted all over with beautiful bloom — 
each, from the tiniest flower to the great moon-flower — every 
species has a language peculiar to itself, but is incapable of 
self-expression. And the leaves — their changes. They drop to 
return no more. These beauties of earth you may behold and 
admire there. I have seen all of these on earth as beautiful 
while I was there. But their beauty became grandeur when I 
contemplated them from spirit life. Their significance, their 
uses we see here, of which we never dreamed when on earth. 
I would like to say, 'My old home world.' 

849. "That one who never tries to find out the beauties 
of your world misses much, makes a great mistake, as he will 
find out when he gets here. Not in books made by man, but 
in Nature's free, wide-open book every person of intelligence 
may read and learn and know. 

(a) "When convenient, it may be well to read the books 
of men and women, but it must not all be taken for granted. 
Books generally contain their authors' opinions. One book is 
the opinion of one, and the next book the opinion of somebody 
else. And as touching the same matters, these books do wide- 
ly differ. Your time is gone in reading one or the other. More 
time thus lost than would be were you to read the works of 
spirits, for, if their communion be perfect, they are in position 
to reveal more truth. 

850. "Your scientists have been at great pains, great 
study, great expense, to find out about the various planets, and 
they make books about the probabilities; but they find not 
much out in that matter. One week you have a certain data 
of fixed probabilities, and the next week such scientific proba- 
bilities are all unfixed, and perhaps entirely faded away. 

851. "You may think that I have not advanced, but I am 
sure that T have moved on, and that I am moving on; and I 
am here to tell you no fables and to warn you to bo careful; 

BV — 2') 



306 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

when you receive anything, be ye careful from whom you re- 
ceive it." 

Parsons, 

852. The alleged Haymarket anarchist, said: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. I am glad of this privilege. 
I may be able to give you some of my experience. I came out 
of the mortal body to the spirit world very suddenly. I was 
accused of a crime of which I was absolutely innocent. And it 
seemed that all things were in conspiracy against me, and Jus- 
tice herself caught the mob spirit and must have a victim to 
satiate the maddened cry for blood, and the lot fell upon one 
innocent Parsons; and, as of old, the cry of vengeance and 
blood, 'Away with him!' seemed dust, blinding even the courts 
of justice. But Parsons yet lives, and even-handed justice will 
fully recoil upon every conspirator against my innocence. 

(b) "I have been here before, but gave way to others, and 
this evening I find the way open for me one moment, and as T 
must go now I desire first to thank you." 

S. 8. Jones. 

853. After Parsons had gone away from our sight, an- 
other Chicagoan; as the sequel proved, stood in materialized 
form before the circle and said: ''This is S. S. Jones, of the 
Religio-Philosophical Journal. I just dropped in to encourage 
your people in the prosecution of the grand work you are here 
engaged in, and I want to encourage the good Dr. Schellhous 
over there to keep the press up with correspondence from here. 
Let the world know of you martyrs here. Just write the plain 
facts. Write on until they will listen. 

854. "That was a great caper my son-in-law cut, wasn't 
it? He was down here investigating and then went away, and 
I understand he has been back since. He tried to be an auto- 
crat, but that didn't fit him. Then he thought of hupocrat, but 
that was too common. His next thought was of the iconoclast, 
and he investigated a little and got poisoned, and it went all 
through him, but the poison is nearly all out of him now, and 
he 's working all right and getting along very well." And as 
Jones went away, 

Thomas Paine 

855. Took the condition of visibility before the circle just 
long enough to say in his most emphatic vocal manner: 

(a) "I suppose the missionaries down there think God sent 
a great many to hell by way of this great storm and flood of 
waters. But he has not sent any of them to hell so far." (This 
refers to newspaper reports of some sermons concerning the 
Galveston calamity." — Secretary.) 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 307 

Seance No. 62. 

September 20, 1900. 

Conduct of This Work on Spirit Side. 

856. Dr. Keed spoke at length about the conducting of 
this work, and of the many remarks made, said this: 

(a) "A great many spirits come here with their experi- 
ences, and a great many are not able to speak for themselves 
to us, but can dictate to certain spirits who report to us. But 
the great burden of the guides in the publication matter is to 
sift out and not burden the record with repetitions, but to 
give new matter, or new versions and different illustrations. 
One spirit may have a great experience, and yet very little of 
it new, or different from what is already given. So we have 
to be busy at getting the right matter. This accounts for some 
spirits not saying much. We permit them to tell only what is 
new in matter, manner, or style." 

(It must be apparent to one who would think a moment 
that, when a person comes into the circle who has not been an 
attendant, he has with him spirit friends who are so anxious 
to reveal themselves that it is impossible to go on with the 
regular work. — Secretary.) 

Voltaire. 

857. One entirely strange to the circle came out of the 
cabinet, saying: 

(a) "I suppose the world thought I was gone to hell long 
ago, but T am not at all, and I have never experienced any 
more hell than I found on earth nor any greater devil than 
some who abide on the earth. 1 have not found that fellow, 
the devil, nor have I found that man, the Lord Jesus Christ. 
Neither the hell nor the heaven I was told about. 

(b) "But I have found a beautiful, goodly land, inhabited 
by human beings, men, women, and children who once lived on 
earth, and your world now calls them dead. I have found 
people who used to inhabit your world and who lived there 
in the hope of attaining a certain country where a certain per- 
sonage, called the Lord God Omnipotent, reigned as an abso- 
lute monarch and who had a son, an only son, reigning with 
the Father, and this boy of his had been made very God and 
equal with the Father in all things and having some powers 
not possessed by the Father: the power of dictating whom the 
Father shall admit to the joys of the kingdom and whom the 
Father shall cast into hell, into endless perdition, into outer 
darkness, and from the presence and kingdom of God. 

858. "And I met one the other day, so to speak, wander- 
ing about as though he were lost or hunting for something 



308 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

he had lost, and he asked me, b Who are you?' And I told him, 
'Voltaire.' And he was astonished and wondered how that 
could be, unless he had missed his hold and landed into hell. 
And I told him of this goodly land, of its beauties, and called 
his attention to some of its grandeurs, and the glories of some 
of its inhabitants. And he then began asking me of the fabled 
characters of his earth religion, beginning with his Savior Jesus 
Christ, the Son of God. And I answered: 'What if I should 
tell you T am he?' 

(a) "He said: 'That won't do, for you just told me that 
you are that great infidel Voltaire, and you can be no Son of 
God.' 

(b) "And I said: 'You will find no Son of God other than 
I and such as I.' 

(c) "He said: 'I don't understand this; that, after all my 
earth life spent in worship, spent in adoration, spent in assur- 
ance of meeting my Savior and of being taken to' and before 
a great white throne and the King thereon, and that you were 
in the regions of the damned, and now I meet you instead of 
the characters of my theology.' 

(d) "I said: 'You were taught wrong. You were not told 
the truth at all, and you will have to learn the matter all anew, 
beginning here where you should have begun on earth.' 

(e) "And he went away sorrowful, yet pleased with his in- 
formation. And do you know who invited me to come here?" 

Secretary: "No, sir, Mr. Voltaire. Of all those interested 
in this matter, I could not guess which one made you the 
invitation." 

859. Spirit: "It was Thomas Paine, that mean man, who 
invited me here. That man whose great crime was in having 
a soul large enough to encompass the human race. And I find 
him here, and others like unto him, and such glorious company. 
I am thankful for this privilege of reporting to you how my 
work of driving out false gods from darkening the souls of 
men and women still goes on and I shall so continue as long 
as in wisdom it may seem my duty." 

Theology — Hell — Redemption. 

860. Thomas Paine, speaking with his usual inimitable elo- 
quence, said: "Good-evening, friends. I am truly glad to be 
here again. I am meeting cases every day, every hour, of trou- 
bled souls about their false religion, and these cases come here 
in such great numbers that we feel in duty bound to continue 
our efforts to have these things modified in your world, and 
to this end a band of us are working together. 

861. "I met a friend — I call him a friend because he and 
I are children of our common mother, Nature. I met this 



BEYOND THE TAIL, 309 

friend who had been taught to believe in that man God when 
he was on earth, and he had been taught not only to believe 
in that God, but also to believe in the whole train of the usual 
theological concomitants. And he said to me: 'Who are you?' 

"I said: 'I am Thomas Paine.' 

"He said: 'Is this hell that I am in?' 

862. "I said: 'Well, sir, that man you see there is Vol- 
taire. And over yonder you see that grand old man Socrates. 
And you look about you and behold this to be a most wonder- 
fully beautiful country. If this is hell, I hope to remain here. 
All about here you see the sages that were of earth. You see 
them engaged in joyous occupations. You see their counte- 
nances beaming with delight. You see no smoke about them. 
You hear no wails of excruciating misery. No marks of pain 
do you see in their noble countenances. You see everything 
as far removed from your old notions of hell as could possibly 
be. Those people you expected to find in endless torment are 
free from pain, are suffering no anguish, but are all joyously 
happy. 

863. " 'When you were on earth you were taught of Jesus, 
the only begotten Son of God, whom God had prepared from 
before the foundation of the world as a savior of the world 
from the condition of sinfulness that a man, whom God had 
yet to make, would plunge the world into so soon as this God 
would have the new man made. And you come here among us, 
looking for that God, expecting to find such an one. And for 
that Jesus. But, my friend, you see now that you have been 
awfully mis taught about the whole affair. You see no such 
hell as was taught you to be the doom of Thomas Paine and 
Voltaire. And you find not your God nor your Jesus, and you 
msij search all eternity for your God and Savior and immacu- 
late Son of God. and eternally you will not find them, nor your 
devil, nor your hell, nor your heaven. But you will find that 
your whole life on earth was lived as one solid falsehood. And 
now you come to us whom you despised, whom you loathed 
and feared as you would the greatest den of venomous rep- 
tiles. You come to us, and we are called upon to teach you 
anew of the God, the heaven, the hell; and to lead you out 
of that darksome superstition into the light of truth and eter- 
nal liberty.' And we meet many thousands like this one, wan- 
dering about in search of their Jesus and never finding him. 

864. "Oh, friends, if I could have known what I do now,, 
I could have turned many from that God idea that wastes so- 
many lives on earth, and sends to this side so many disap- 
pointed ones. And I am determined to teach your world, so far- 
as I am able, of this great festering theological delusion." 



310 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Denton, 



865. Immediately after Paine, stood forth in visible form 
and in his happiest manner said: 

(a) "Friends, you can readily understand that that great 
spirit has not said all that he could say along that line. As 
vividly as he has set out the truth, yet it would be hard to 
present the far-reaching consequences of the false ecclesias- 
ticisms of your world. And how common orthodox religious 
teaching of your world holds the souls of millions in bondage 
and sends them to spirit life in undeveloped conditions, we can 
not portray to your minds in other or better way than by oft- 
related examples of experiences of such unfortunate ones." 

Persecutions of Paine. 

866. And while that noble soul, our good brother Thomas 
Paine, realized some of the inevitable darkening influences of 
ecclesiasticisms on earth and expended his earthly energies 
battling to counteract them for the good of man, yet no man 
has been more persecuted than he. And since in spirit life he 
finds that those victims of the false teachings are left in lower 
regions for a time to unlearn nearly all that they have been 
taught on earth, and with his great soul yet reaching out for 
the good of his kind, he makes the universe his country and 
still to do good as his religion. And I am glad that there are 
such great souls in existence, working for the cause of eternal 
truth, like our good brother Thomas Paine." 

Livingstone. 

867. Now the voice of Sam in the cabinet: "Veil, go oudt. 
I help yon. Youst go right on oudt dere." And we see a form 
emerging out slowly, a total stranger to the circle, but soon 
straightens up and, beginning to talk, says: 

868. "I am Livingstone the explorer, once of the physical 
world and now of the spirit world. I find that I have much to 
learn of this world now, and must learn it mostly by explor- 
ing, not the low orders I found on earth of cannibals and unde- 
veloped regions of dark continents, but in higher regions in 
search of the good and beautiful in the regions of the soul of 
man. Instead of searching for the North Pole, I have turned 
my prow toward the zenith of perfection, not in frozen oceans, 
nor in Africa's burning sands, nor in the wild wilderness of 
savages and war dances, but in the beautiful, the glorious, the 
radiant 'summer-land.' Of course I find many in low conditions 
here, but those in higher conditions invite me to visit with 
them. I have met many of my old friends of earth, and many 
more who had heard of me, and all seemed glad to see me and 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 311 

presenting a wide contrast to the inhabitants of the earth 
where I explored. 

869. "So that instead of my field of labor being shut in, 
it seems to be infinitely expanded and that I am clearing the 
icebergs and cyclonic regions and entering upon seas of an eter- 
nal voyage of exploration. And I hope my buoys will reveal 
truths to those who gather them of benefit to all who fol- 
low me." 

Ingersoll 

870. Follows Livingstone, saying: "And now, friends, I 
am glad of having a companion to help me out. 

(a) "Can you realize the benefit to future generations of 
this work that is being done here? Perhaps not. You can 
hardly divine it while yet in the physical. Not until you ascend 
Tiigh up the mountains of eternity will you be able to realize 
the greatness of your work here. 

(b) "I am now engaged at work all the time along the lines 
you have been told about, and I am content to work on. Of 
course my folks are left on earth, but soon they will come on 
and join me over here, and we shall march on in happy reunion, 
working together as on earth, with but little change of work 
or purpose, but better able to discern what is required, and the 
results of what we do. I have but a moment with you at this 
time. If you do not recognize who I am, just call me Friend 
Bobby." 

871. Then followed, one after another, five different forms, 
all having the appearance of young women of various sizes and 
heights, and differing in mannerisms, and clad in garments 
white and glistening, and moving about over the carpet of the 
room between the circle and cabinet, each distinctly pronounc- 
ing her own name thus, to-wit: "I am Mary Crowell." My 
name is Josie Stockwell." "This is Minnie Williams." 

872. "I am Blanche Lamont. I went out suddenly. I have 
met the one they accused of being my murderer. He is inno- 
cent. Sometime the guilty party will be known. I am not 
liappy, nor shall I be happy until these great wrongs in some 
way shall all have been righted." 

873. "My name is Sophia Younger. No, I am not any rela- 
tion of Cole Younger." 

The next form on the carpet in the condition of visibility 
was in the similitude of a man, having the voice of a man, and 
said : 

874. "I am Jesse James, the alleged bandit. I was not 
so bad in reality as they painted me to be. 

(a) "The man that took my life did an ungrateful and cow- 
ard Iv act. I had taken my own life in my hand for his protec- 



312 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

tion and to shield him, on more occasions than one. But he is 
getting his reward in suffering. He has no peace, nor will he 
have until he makes sufficient retribution." 

Circle: "Don't you suppose his suffering already has been 
sufficient?" 

(b) Spirit: "No, I think not. It is not I, but the injus- 
tice by his own hand and of his own will, that is burning him r 
and when that fire will have done its work, it will go out." 

(c) Some of the circle had forgotten the name of his 
slayer and mentioned the wrong name just as the spirit had 
returned into the cabinet, and then the spirit said very loudly: 
"No, that is not the name. It was Bob Ford." 

875. And while the words "Bob Ford" were being spoken 
in the cabinet, there stood to view of the circle a spirit which, 
as soon as the words "Bob Ford" were uttered, spoke a few 
words of Spanish, which none of us except Dr. Schellhous could 
interpret. According to the Doctor, the spirit said: "I am Cor- 
tez, of the conquest of Mexico." And when Cortez had gone 
away to the condition of invisibility, that familiar form and 
voice identifying the one before the circle now as 

Professor William Denton 

876. Said: "You notice the many and varied wonderful 
inventions of the past fifty years, and I want to suggest to you 
that more inventions and more wonderful than of the last fifty 
years will be made in the next thirty years, inventions travers- 
ing land and sea and air far surpassing any yet made. How do 
I know? Patterns of them are already in the spirit world and 
spirits are at work on others; and as fast as suitable mediums 
are found, these patterns will be given to the world. 

(a) "All of your inventions come to your world from the 
spirit world to some special medium fitted to each case, and 
the people of your w 7 orld want to accord the whole affair to 
the medium, while the fact is that he is only a medium to whom 
the ideas are given from the spirit side. 

877. "Do not think for one moment, friends, that spirits 
have naught to do but to sit in an easy arm-chair and rock, or 
in the chimney-corner and sing psalms to all eternity, for there 
is work, all the time there is work. Of course we have some 
drones, but such have a drone's reward; but they come not into 
my surroundings nor into my society." 

878. Then came Daniel O'Brien with one word concerning 
the Galveston inundation, in strong but solemn tone, through 
the trumpet, and said: 

(a) "That was an awful affair, a great explosion. I met 
some of those people who came up out of that dreadful affair. 
But I suppose it must be so. And, like all floods that have ever 
been, an evening-up adjustment will be made at some time." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 313 

Seance No. 63. 

September 23, 1900. 

879. Visitors, Dr. Barr and H. McCracken, of Ellinwood, 
Kansas. Dr. Reed opened the seance with his usual salutation, 
and a welcome to the visitors, hoping to be able to present them 
something of interest. 

Professor William Denton. 

880. "I am glad to meet you again this evening, and bid 
those gentlemen from a distance a hearty welcome. 

(a) "1 observe that you have been discussing seA 7 eral sub- 
jects here to-day; and perhaps I had as well try to settle some 
of them. 

{!)) "You know much of the scientific investigations of the 
past ages and you know much of the results. It is a boasted 
claim that such researches revealed great and wonderful re- 
sults. But when you get to this side and are able. to look 
across it all, you will conclude that but little progress has been 
made in actual knowledge of the constitution of things. When 
here you will find yourselves free, free from selfishness anl cru- 
elty. Here you gradually grow out of your likes and dislikes 
and every selfish attachment." 

Thomas Paine, 

881. That the visitors might be able to form some con- 
ception of the vocalization in which this spirit makes his utter- 
ances here, speaks a few words at this time in his happiest 
style, thus: 

(a) "Friends, I am here to try to suppress the influence 
of the money power, so that the wage-worker shall not be a 
slave." 

George Brewster. 

882. This spirit came laughing into the sight of the cir- 
cle, "Ha, ha, ha!" saying: "Hello, Dr. Barr, this is a great place. 
Ha, ha, ha!" And finally the spirit was recognized by the 
visitor. 

Carter. 

883. A spirit referred to the reports that some ministers, 
in commenting on the Galveston fatalities, had alleged the 
affair as an act of God, showing His righteous indignation to- 
wards the wickedness of the people; speaking somewhat after 
the manner of Ingersoll, this spirit said: 

884. "That God Almighty has these things come and kill 
the innocent, even the innocent old house-dog and the little 
children and their pets — what an idea some people nave of their 



314 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

God! And I sometimes think that people want to do just like 
their God. They want to wage war against all men and things 
that they think they can conquer. They want to be killing 
something. They enjoy the stench of blood. 

885. "Well, friends, aside from that, I think I am a little 
ahead of you. I am past the killing, being killed, or dying; but 
you have to do your own dying yet. You may have advantage 
of some. You would not get scared when you come to 'croak.' 
Some will be greatly frightened when that hour shall come, 
but I hope you will be good and be not afraid. I may as well 
tell you that my name is Carter." 

886. Wesley Aber now comes to view at the writing-desk 
in the role of amanuensis for the spirit 

William Clayton, 

887. Many years in spirit life, and although a brother of 
Mrs. Pratt, he has not learned in all these years this manner 
of writing, and therefore dictates to the spirit Wesley the fol- 
lowing message of his experience, to-wit: 

888. "My spirit life has been as full of experiences as my 
earthly life was. To be sure, I have not toiled as a laborer 
here, but I have helped to do my work here, always ready to 
do the tasks assigned to me. 

889. "When I left the body I gently drifted outward. It 
seemed to me that I was slowly drifting as one is in a small 
boat without sail or oars. I could see and recognize my angel 
mother's face, and it was then that I began to realize what a 
mother's love means. We drifted along until I sank into un- 
consciousness, and when I again awoke I found myself on a 
beautiful green sward. I stood still and looked about me. 
Giant trees reared their branches far above my head, and 
among them sweet birds caroled still the sweetest music. I 
felt that I might have entered some of the country that the 
fabled Sinbad had passed through. I stood reverently in the 
midst of all this beauty. In the distance a little brook tinkled 
musically and the air seemed as balmy as at eventide; and 
somehow it reminded me of the time when, as a boy, I went to 
hunt the cows. I had always an innate love for the beautiful, 
and felt that at last I had reached Paradise. 

890. "I did not stop to question how or why I came there. 
I was lost in the enjoyment of the beautiful scene. I lay flat 
upon my back, boy fashion, on the soft green turf, that I might 
better enjoy it before the light faded and grew dim, but the 
light did not fade; it remained the soft mellow light that you 
are accustomed to see on earth just after the sun sinks behind 
the western horizon. 

891. "It may have been hours that I lay silently enjoying 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 



315 



it all. When again my mother stood before me, she said: 'My 
child, is this not glorious?' Mother and 1 talked for a long 
time of my hopes and ambitions on earth and my misfortunes. 

892. "And she said: 'My child, your desire for an educa- 
tion will be realized now. No more will you be compelled to 
toil for your daily bread. As soon as you are rested I will take 
you where kind instructors await your coming.' 

893. "I have found the fulfillment of all my hopes, and 
as I progress I shall be able to instruct others. On earth I 
had toiled among the lowly, but here there are no lowly except 
those who are made low by their brutal instincts and desires. 

894. "If one is truly good, whether king or peasant, he 
finds his reward. Knowledge comes to those who desire it in 
the spirit life, as naturally as growth does to the earthly body. 

"William Clayton." 




FOLLY BARE. 



316 BEYOND TEE VAIL. 

A Drawing under Test Conditions. 

896. Now comes the artist with his box of sketch paper, 
takes a sheet, exhibits the same to the circle until all express 
their satisfaction beyond a doubt that the paper is clear, and 
he places the paper on the table, moves both hands over the 
paper a moment, then blows over the paper much as does a 
Chinese laundryman to sprinkle his goods, and raises the pa- 
per so that all of the circle can see, and there was the life- 
size bust portrait of an elderly lady, of which this cut is a copy* 

Polly Barr. 

897. And none of the circle could recognize the portrait 
until at last Dr. Barr got a view, and at once thought it a 
good portrait of his grandmother, Polly Barr. And the more 
he looked at the portrait the more he became assured of the 
likeness to his grandmother, and when he examined it in the 
light of day, the more he says, "That is Grandmother Barr." 

The Test Considered oy the Secretary. 

898. Now let the reader, who may claim a job of fraud, 
set up in this case, get these facts into his mind, to-wit: 

899. That only three days prior to this seance came this 
Dr. Barr and Mr. McCracken to Mr. Pratt's house direct from 
their home at Ellinwood, Barton County, Kansas, entire and 
absolute strangers to the medium and to everyone of the cir- 
cle here. They came because they had read the bodk entitled 
"Bending the Vail," and desired to know for themselves wheth- 
er such phenomena as declared by that book could possibly be 
true in any sense. Is it probable that Dr. Barr and Mr. Mc- 
Cracken played that portrait upon the circle on purpose to 
deceive themselves and have a joke on this circle? It would 
cost them from fifty to seventy-five dollars to thus make fools 
of themselves. 

900. If they did not furnish that picture, is it possible that 
someone of the circle or the medium — no one of the circle nor 
the medium ever having seen the lady — could make that por- 
trait and play it on Dr. Barr as genuine spirit work? 

901. Dr. Barr says there never was any portrait or likeness 
of any kind taken of this grandmother of his while she lived 
in the physical, nor ever to his knowledge until this one since 
she is dwelling in the spirit condition. 

902. If the reader plead "subconscious self" in explana- 
tion in this case, he must fail in his plea unless he connect with 
his "subconscious self" the farther plea of "thought-transfer- 
ence"; but if he think a moment, his reason, if he have any, will 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 317 

quickly tell him that if he have a hat full of gold-dust and 
transfer that gold-dust to another hat or pile it up on paper, 
there will be none of that gold-dust left in his hat; otherwise 
it would not be transferred, or if there be any of that gold- 
dust left in his hat, that which is left in his hat is not trans- 
ferred. So if there be thought in that hat and that thought be 
transferred, there will be no thought left in that hat or in the 
head that is in the hat; but if the thought be found yet remain- 
ing in that hat and head, it has not been transferred. What 
then? The most you can make of it is that there may be an 
image of the thought that is in the hat. Well, if there was 
thought in Dr. Barr's thought sensorium of the appearance of 
his grandmother, how did the image of that thought, or clus- 
ter of thoughts, get on to that paper? What placed that 
image on the paper? What "subconscious self" looked at the 
thought in Dr. Barr's thought register aud put the image of 
it on paper? Did the "subconscious self of Dr. Barr jump 
out of the Doctor and take upon itself the visible form of a man 
and make that picture and engage in conversation with the cir- 
cle while so doing, and then jump back into Dr. Barr? Or is 
this whole universe and all that is in it nothing but the imagin- 
ation of nothing? What is insanity, anyway, if it is not 
thought-transference of the "subconscious self"? 

Eliza Barr. 

903. After this spirit had made known her identity to Dr. 
Barr as being his mother, she addressed the circle, saying: 

"My name is Eliza Barr. 1 am glad that my son, Dr. Barr, 
knows something of this beautiful philosophy and is endeavor- 
ing to know more about it. And I am glad also that it has 
been permitted that I should meet him in this way here. We 
have a glorious home over here, and when his work will have 
been done faithfully on earth, we all shall meet again. Tell 
him that I have the little one with me and that it is being cared 
for tenderly. But I must go now, hoping to be able to call this 
way again." 

Kate McCracken. 

904. This spirit clearly identifies herself to H. McCracken 
as his late deceased wife, who he says was born in Pennsylva- 
nia in the year 1S53, and made her transition or birth into the 
spirit world April 25, 1899, at Ellinwood, Barton County, Kan- 
sas, aged forty-six years. He further says that she was of high 
moral character and of disposition unusually amiable and phil- 
anthropic; that she knew something of Spiritualism, but was 
never attached to any church organization. And Dr. Barr also 
fully recognizes this identity, and corroborates Mr. McCraek 



318 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

en's statements as to her character while in the physical con- 
dition; and the Doctor also says that the high practical spirit- 
uality of Mrs. McCracken so very dearly bound her to her hus- 
band that her decease left him almost irreconcilably disconso- 
late, and that he would not become reconciled until a ray of 
light from the spirit world, through the instrumentality of a 
medium, assured him that his beloved is yet alive and tenderly 
watches over and is waiting for him. 

905. This materialization now having demonstrated her 
identity to both Dr. Barr and Mr. McCracken until their every 
possible doubt seemed swept away, then, in garments white and 
glistening, she took a position at the usual point here for spir- 
its while in the visible condition to make their addresses; and 
in a clear and distinct whisper this spirit said: 

908. "I am Kate McCracken. 1 have not been in spirit 
life a great while, but it seems my life on earth had prepared 
for me a glorious home in the spirit world. My work on earth 
was to care for my family and to help all that I could those 
whose unfortunate conditions made them in need of help, in 
need of a helping hand and sympathizing heart. And, although 
my poor heart-stricken husband has mourned for me as having 
gone away from him, yet 1 felt relief to know that I had made 
for him, as well as myself, a beautiful home over here, in which 
ere long he and I will be reunited; and I am so glad that he 
came here so that I can tell him something about this delight- 
ful country and my happy entrance into it. 

907. a As the earth life faded away T seemed to ( lose, for 
a time, the ties and memories of earth. Sweet, tender voices 
greeted me, it seemed from everywhere. Soon bright counte- 
nances shone lovingly upon me. And vast numbers in the dim 
distance sang the loveliest melodies 1 had ever heard, and I 
was caught up and borne away over the most beautiful land- 
scape to where balmiest breezes fanned my weary frame. And 
I was lulled to a peaceful, quiet slumber. And by and by I was 
awakened and some of my old familiar friends invited me to a 
little journey in this sweet abode of the soul, and I was wafted, 
it appeared to me, I was gently but swiftly wafted to the far- 
ther outskirts of that beautiful and delightful landscape; and 
at its farther borders flowed a beautiful, a glorious, a musical 
stream. And I thought that this stream would terminate my 
journey, but a little nearer and a crystal boat was afloat on 
the sparkling waters; and nearer still, and away across the 
stream, on the farther banks of that stream, there were to be 
seen great numbers of beautiful beings in gorgeous array and 
gloriously unfurled banners; and the boat came to me and my 
escort, and the boatman invited us on board; and as we started 
across that stream, strains of sweetest music were wafted low 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 319 

and tenderly to my ears from the innumerable company on the 
farther shore; and the music became more enchanting as near- 
er we came to where those myriads were assembled. 

(a) "Oh, I cannot describe the pleasing sensations of that 
eternally to be remembered pleasant voyage across that stream. 
And on that shore the glorious music, the sweet fragrance 
of the soft, balmy air, myriads of white banners waving, voices 
singing, 'Come to our goodly land. See your home that is pre- 
pared for you.' And that glad company where innumerable 
hearts pulsate in sweetest concord and harmony, and shady 
bowers, and green sward, and beautiful fountains where sweet 
song-birds of every plumage and innumerable throngs of men, 
women and innocent children slaked their thirst, and tall trees, 
dressed in living green, and others in variegated hues. And oh, 
the gardens, the gardens, the delightful gardens! And the 
crystal mansions, and every glory of earth a thousand-fold in- 
tensified. Here, in this glorious country, to share among its 
happy inhabitants, among these happy homes and scenes, is to 
be my home. And tell my dear husband that he, too, already 
has a share therein, and a home being prepared, and when our 
work is all faithfully done in the spheres below, he and I shall 
ascend, hand in hand, to our glorious home awaiting us up 
yonder. 

"Oh, the happy, happy time! 

In that glorious sunny clime, 

We, together, side by side, 

As the wasteless ages glide, 
He and I shall go." 

Edmond Schellhous, 

908. Brother to Dr. E. J. Schellhous, was born into phys- 
ical life April 23, 1821, and into spirit life in May, 1848; having 
acquired a collegiate education and arrayed himself to do bat- 
tle for humanity, now for the benefit of mankind, returns to 
us with the following message, to- wit: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. It is with pleasure that I 
meet you in this way, at this time. It is thought that a little 
account of my first experience on entering spirit life would be 
in accord with the designs of your work here. 

(b) "My transition was made very pleasant. In fact 5 I 
may say it was triumphant. On quitting the old body I soon 
observed round about me hosts of men and women, and among 
them many whom I had known on earth. These people all 
seemed tobe happy and joyful, and I looked again and beheld 
all about me and stretching in all directions a beautiful coun- 
try having evidences all along of a higher civilization than I 



320 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

had ever known on earth, and more glorious than I had ever 
imagined it possible to be in existence. 

A Mountain of Learning. 

909. "Presently we came to the foot of a mountain whose 
beauty to behold I can never be fully able to describe, and only 
a crude ideal may be conceived from any words I may speak 
concerning it. This mountain was not of the appearance of 
mountains of the earth, rugged, rock-projecting sides and bleak 
and barren toward the summit; but it, too, presented the ap- 
pearance of being kept and dressed by civilized hands and a 
great degree of intelligence. And, although this mountain 
reared its lofty summit away up into the heavens, it was car- 
peted all over with the most beautiful green sward, and ever- 
green shrubbery and many-colored flowers; and here and there, 
away toward the blue dome, were trees surpassing the tall 
cedars of Lebanon, as portrayed to my mind in dreams of my 
early days. 

The Temple of Learning. 

910. "And away up the mountain-side there was a magnifi- 
cent building, in its vast proportions, unique designs, and 
grandeur of construction surpassing any architectural struct- 
ure I ever beheld on earth. And they told me this was a school- 
house. (1211.) 

911. "And I looked again and all about this beautiful 
building and among the shrubbery and flowers and on the green 
carpeting of the mountain sides were myriads of happy and 
joyous young people whose brilliant countenances lit up this 
mountain of learning. And they told me that at some time I 
could visit and investigate this glorious mountain at my own 
pleasure, but that for the present we would move along to 
other scenes of beauty and grandeur. 

The Beautiful Stream of Purity. (50.) 

912. "On the other side of the mountain we came to 
a beautiful stream of absolutely clear water, running in a chan- 
nel having banks and floor of most beautiful, pearly pebbles. 
And one of polish and reflection surpassing any precious stone 
I had ever before seen, which I picked up and desired to retain 
and bring back to earth as a trophy; but they told me I could 
not for ages be able to do that, though there are some very 
ancient spirits who might do so, and would, if likely to benefit 
mortals. And while it seemed that I could, without tiring, 
tarry and gaze into that beautiful stream an age and contem- 
plate the radiations and reflections of those variegated pebbles 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 321 

over which ran those sparkling musical waters, they bade me 
be going, and we crossed the sweet stream of waters and trav- 
eled on, beholding new beauties everywhere. 

913. "And, at length, away on yonder plain we see people 
in vast numbers and soon we are in the midst of them, and 
immense multitudes of men, women, and children are about us 
everywhere. And here is a park of vast extent abounding with 
flowers, and shrubbery, and green sward, and beautiful walks, 
and shady bowers, and musical birds, and magnificent amphi- 
theaters crowded with happy people. And to the branches of 
tall trees swings are suspended, and joyous children every- 
where engaged in their pla} T s and swings. 

914. "And they tell me this is one of their camp-meeting 
festivals, and we stop here a little season. And soon the great 
concourse break forth into songs of gladness that the good 
Mother Nature had redeemed them from low conditions and 
placed their feet on the joys of eternal ages. Words cannot 
express, the most vivid imagination of earth cannot sense, this 
magnificent display of symphonious grandeur. 

915. "They tell me that this is but a faint glimpse into the 
infinitude of eternal grandeur; but that this is as far as I can 
now travel and see of the home that is to be mine as I become 
developed therefor; and that I must return and help to lead 
out and show to others concerning these things in order to fit 
me for the more glorious beyond." 

S. 0. Thacher. 

916. For portrait and biography, see "Rending the Vail,'' 
paragraph 2940, 2941. This spirit now speaks a moment of the 
morals of "Rending the Vail," saying: "I am glad, friends, to 
be able to spend a moment in communion with you. 

Morals of "Bending the Tail." 

917. "T have looked about over your country in the wake 
of your book, and find that quite a number of people have 
read it who never before examined the claims of Spiritualism, 
or but slightly; and, of course, many Spiritualists have also 
read the book, and the tendency of the reading is that all who 
attentively read it are induced to become better men and 
women. 

(a) "It teaches all through that which is uplifting; that peo- 
ple must shape their lives to higher ends if they would ascend 
out of dark conditions; and that perpetual bliss is secured only 
by perpetually working for higher attainments in the use of all 
•of the functions of the soul in unison with natural law. 

918. "Many people think they have attained to perfection 

BV 21 



322 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

already; but were that the case, evolution would be a myth, a 
mere dream, for one has as much logical right to suppose him- 
self perfect as another; and it is self-evident that none are per- 
fect from the fact of diversity in development everywhere, no 
two persons just alike; and diversity is just as much the law 
and the rule over here as with you. Nevertheless we have no- 
wars, no battles, over here where I dwell, but we differ in opin- 
ion and some do know more than others here, as with you. And 
some do not try to learn, but we try to teach them, and sooner 
or later we succeed by virtue of our inexhaustible patience. 

919. "I observe, too, that your little world is corrupt, is 
getting more corrupt all the time, at least up to within the last 
two or three years. During the past three years it seems that 
people have grown a little more humane. They have found at 
last that Spiritualism works off the rough corners and tends 
to make people's lives more smoothly pass by. And if you live 
a little longer, you will see a great change for the better, as peo- 
ple become acquainted with this glorious philosophy." 

Seance No. Q1+. 

September 27, 1900. 

920. Mr. Pratt, on account of being crippled by an acci- 
dental fall this morning, could not sit with the circle; nor could 
Mrs. Pratt, she having to attend Mr. Pratt. And a stranger 
being present, who had never had any experience in Spiritual- 
ism except in opposition, very little marked phenomena, except 
of a personal nature, were produced. However, there were two 
vocalizations that may prove of interest to some readers. 

Dunlap; or, The Gradual Awakening. 

921. A spirit form announcing this as his name, speaking* 
in indistinct manner, so that only a portion of what the spirit 
said was uttered with sufficient clearness for the circle to un- 
derstand, but the following was sufficiently well-spoken to be 
understood, to-wit: That at the first in spirit life he was lost r 
and everything seemed in uncertainty; that after a while he 
began to realize his condition, and to meet and see about him 
people, some of whom he recognized as friends of his who had 
passed on at various times before, and had been called dead; 
that then soon there was a good light all about him, and land- 
scapes began to appear stretching out into the distance as the 
semi-darkness cleared away. And in the midst of the land- 
scapes were mountains, and all of this scenery so like things he 
had seen on earth that it seemed as though he were traveling 
again over some of those landscapes of earth, and that he was- 
passing about over these landscapes and beyond these moun- 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 323 

tains. That as lie was passing along he frequently met per- 
sons of his old acquaintance and many strangers just as he 
would had he been traveling on earth. 

(a) That he saw animals, both domestic and wild, just as 
on earth the traveler meets and sees them, some near by, some 
far away; some up the hills and mountain-sides, and some away 
out on the more level plains. That he seemed to be on foot, 
but also at times gliding along. That, among the domestic ani- 
mals along the way, he saw a white horse, which he recognized 
as Old Mck, his old family pet horse, and he said to him: 
"Why, Mck, my dear old Nick! You died long ago, and here 
you are!" And Nick, recognizing him, came to him and he got 
on Old Nick and rode along just as he used to. That pretty 
soon they came to a stream of water, and Nick waded into the 
water and took a good hearty drink thereof, and then went on 
ar-ross the stream. And many others crossed the stream, and 
they all rode on together to a very beautiful place where were 
congregating a great number of people, and there the Dunlap 
party stopped to see and learn of those people and rest up for 
journeying farther on. Here the spirit said: "My form is giv- 
ing way, and I must go." 

Secretary: "Mr. Dunlap, before you go, I would like to 
ask you how it is that so many spirits have the experience of 
running streams of water to relate? Whether those streams 
of water are magnetic currents or mere psychic emblems used 
by the guides of the newborn spirit, or whether they are actual 
spirit counterparts of running water on earth?" 

Spirit: "They don't all tell about their pets, horses, and 
such like in spirit life, do they?" 

Secretary: "No, sir; but a great many of them talk about 
beautiful streams of waters." 

922. Spirit: "They tell me here that waters are real, spir- 
itual, magnetic, as w r ell as emblems, and that running waters 
indicate purifying conditions, or, rather, are purifying condi- 
tions, and the appearance of the water indicates the degree of 
the purity of the conditions of adjacent regions. So that these 
waters, to higher intelligences, are both real and emblematic, 
and currents of spirit ether are streams to spirits as realistic 
as currents of water to the physical life condition. And so 
this region of Old Nick, the real and spiritual white horse, is 
emblematic of the highest attainment and condition of tin 1 
most advanced spirituality of the animal kingdom in the spirit 
world." 

Louis Green. 

923. This spirit was also a stranger to all of the circle, 
but in rather indistinct utterance spoke substantially thus: 



324 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

"Friends, this seems to me a great work here, and we hope that 
when we get it accomplished we may find conditions for an- 
other one. Conditions adapted to the work in hand are de- 
manded by Nature everywhere, and that we may reveal to your 
world some of the grandeur of the spirit world, it is necessary 
that we have suitable conditions for the work." 

Seance No. 65. 

September 30, 1900. 
Henry Burns. 

924. This spirit began talking in very indistinct speech, 
uttering words as though with great effort because of choking 
sensations, but in a short while got so as to be fairly well un- 
derstood, and said: 

(a) "My name is Henry Burns. 1 passed out of consumption 
at Fort Worth, Texas. I had attended seances of this medium 
down in Texas. My wife is still living at Fort Worth. She is 
a Spiritualist, and I am able to approach very near to her. I 
can now see that what little I did know of Spiritualism has 
been of much benefit to me since I came to spirit life. 

925. "One reason why Spiritualism is of importance to the 
benefit of one just leaving the earth life for a home over here 
is that Spiritualism being the truth, whatsoever one knows of 
it at death is that much of light to him or her in the spirit 
world. The sum total of all that there is of light and truth in 
the spirit world is simply Spiritualism. I find nothing here but 
Spiritualism, and light and darkness in proportion as one has 
not the practical truth of Spiritualism. And every inhabitant 
of your world will enter into the light or darkness of the spirit 
world to himself or herself in proportion as true practical Spir- 
itualism shall have been adopted or omitted in the earth life." 

Jackson. 

926. This spirit seemed unable to give his fore-name in 
such way as to be understood, and he was also a stranger to 
the circle. After a little effort, however, he spoke quite clear- 
ly, saying: 

Ignorance Better Than False Idols. 

927. "I came to this side of life some time ago, being quite 
ignorant of this truth, and found myself in conditions that were 
somewhat unpleasant for quite awhile. But I had one redeem- 
ing feature with me: I was not. burdened by any religious super- 
stitious bonds, and had but little to unlearn. So just as soon 
as my guides got me waked up to consciousness of my new 
relations, I began to travel about in search of truth. And in 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 325 

so doing I frequently met some who took delight in helping 
me along. 

(a) "After I had become better acquainted with conditions 
here, it transpired that 1 met a certain lady with whose history 
I had been familiar while she and I were in the mortal, and she 
says: 'Well, well, Mr. Jackson, is it possible you are here? 
Really, this is a surprise to me. How long have you been here?' 

(&) "I says: 'Quite a while. When I woke up from my 
death-trance I found myself right here, and I 've been knocking 
round, getting acquainted with the people here ever since, and 
I have met many of my old friends.' 



Woman Looking for Heaven and God. 

928. "And she says: 'I have been in the spirit world a 
good bit. I thought I would land into heaven, but so far I have 
not found anything but just what they call the spirit world; 
and I find what they call spirits, many of whom seem to be very 
happy indeed. But one whom I supposed my greatest friend 
and to whom I had expected to be shown at once I have not 
found and I have been looking for him all the while, and every- 
thing seems to me uncertain and rather dim. Now, Mr. Jack- 
son, have you found or seen or heard anything of God?' 

(a) "And I says: 'No, my good lady, I have not found 
God, and they tell me that people who have been here many 
ages have never found any more God than they saw while they 
lived on the earth. Of course I did not hunt around for God, 
because I did not expect, in the first place, to ever find such a 
personage; and I have lost no time in the vain search. No, my 
good lady, you are looking the wrong way, and for persons 
whom you will never find. In such case it is better for us to 
turn about and look for something more probable. And the 
sooner you turn and look some other way prepared to be sat- 
isfied with what you do find and its lessons, the sooner will you 
grow into a happier condition.' 

(o) "She did so, and is getting much better now. Having 
learned something of Spiritualism and of spirit return, she 
has, after much effort, partially reached the earth friends and 
begun to learn of the way of the true light, she is happy in try- 
ing to uproot the errors of the ignorance of the people of earl li 
in regard to requisite preparation for joyful entrance into the 
spirit world." 

Robert Dale Given. (R. V., 1152, 1 L53.) 

929. This spirit, after making his identity known to the 



326 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

circle, or to so many of the circle as had been more or less 
familiar with his biography, said: 



Lecturing to Large Assemblies. 

1)30. "I am glad to meet, friends, in this way again. I 
have been keeping along with the work that is being done here, 
and I have been lecturing on this side. You have been apprised 
of this mode of teaching over here to vast assemblages of peo- 
ple. But in following up the work of teaching Spiritualism to 
mortals and discerning the effect among the people of earth, 
it seems strange to me that people, in spite of the proofs given, 
remain so skeptical. I cannot comprehend why they should 
demand so much more of the most essential of all philosophy 
to them than they do of anything else. They accept the most 
absurd superstitions without any proof, without any evidence 
except that somebody said so. But here they shut up their 
souls to every fact, and will not allow themselves to receive 
the most palpable facts. But, instead, they turn on you and 
demand that you accept their superstition, which has nothing 
whatever to support it. 

(a) "I used to tell them that if they would prove their doc- 
trine, I would accept it, but they could give no proof. I told 
them that Spiritualism is the only doctrine that is susceptible 
of proof, the only one that can be and that is demonstrated, 
and therefore the only one that can stand, the only, one that 
can, does, and will endure. All else must necessarily pass 
away for want of a foundation. 

(b) "Spiritualism, being on the solid foundation of demon- 
strable truth, has stood the storm of the most venomous oppo- 
sition. But see now how rapidly other doctrines are contin- 
ually being modified, all the time approaching and converg- 
ing towards Spiritualism. You will find that Spiritualism is 
as solid as your world itself and more enduring; for when, 
in the cycles of the coming ages, your world shall have passed 
into disintegration, Spiritualism will remain. While the dif- 
ferent superstitious dogmas have been invented by man for 
the worldly benefit and glorification of some class, some caste, 
Spiritualism comes to all for the benefit of all. Spiritualism 
comes to your world to chase away the shadows of death 
and to change the gloom of the grave into light and joy 
unending." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 327 

Sarali Bancroft, 

931. A spirit we do not know, but she gives an experience 
that is a little different from any other, so far, which may meet 
the inquiry of the minds of some readers. Standing in the 
usual attitude and attire of the female forms here, and in their 
usual manner of speech, this spirit said: 

(a) "I am Sarah Bancroft, and I am greatly delighted in 
the fact that I can thus stand between the two worlds and tell 
to your world a little. of the experience of myself since here. 

(b) "My- passing out was made very pleasant to me, by 
means of the soothing influences thrown around me by good 
spirits. And on fully awakening. I met many school-children 
whom I had cared for on earth, and these all gave me a glad 
and hearty welcome. 

932. "After awhile I met my grandfather, and he said to 
me: 'Well, dear child, you are here at last, free from the cum- 
bersome earthly house, free from the turmoils of earth, free 
from sickness and pain, and, although separated for a time from 
the direct society of many of your dear friends on earth, yet 
these must soon follow you, and you have already met many 
of your old friends that reached the spirit world before you, 
and who are happy to renew with you the old-time acquaintance. 

(a) "But, my child, you are feeble yet. Your soul ele- 
ments are not all fully assimilated to this world, not entirely 
liberated from the earth conditions, and passing through the 
transition has had the effect to produce a condition as of one 
being tired. You, therefore, need a little rest, and 1 will go 
w T ith you to a place suitable to your case for that rest.' 

(b) "And grandfather led me away across a beautiful 
green sward to a little mourd, and there, upon that velvety. 
green, moss-covered mound, T sat down. And soon the soft. 
gent 7 e breezes of that delightful clime had fanned me into the 
most peaceful frame of mind and the sweetest slumber, or, 
rather, the most refreshing repose that T had ever experienced. 

933. "After awhile, I know not how long, of this sweet 
repose, grandfather spoke, saying: 'Dear child, awake now 
and behold some of the glories round about!" And 1 awoke to 
feel myself more refreshed than ever in my childhood morning 
on earth. The light about me was so soft, so mellow, so sweet, 
and all sounds so musical! And the srreen ieosses ^arpetinsj 
the mound were thickly interwoven with golden-hued threads 
glittering in the soft mellow 7 light. 

934. "And grandfather led me along out over a wide- 
spreading, beautiful plain. And all over this plain were golden 
emblems mixed with the preen sward, and birds of golden pi um- 
age. ard streams of golden pebbled bottoms, and floating in the 



328 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

stream beautiful fish of golden-hued stripings, and all things 
and all influences seemed like rest. Such sweet, sweet rest! 

935. "And grandfather told me that here I would find a 
home for a time and occupy myself in conducting tired new- 
born souls to this delightful land of rest, and in teaching them 
of all things found here. And when such souls be sufficiently 
rested a.nd be grown strong enough that they would be shown 
the way of the more dazzling light of the spheres beyond, some 
of which I have been permitted to see. But my happy work, 
for a time yet. is visiting earth and watching and waiting for 
them and conducting earth's poor, tired, way-worn pilgrims to 
rest, glorious rest, in this beautiful land of rest." 

Seance No. 66. 

October 2, J 900. 

Christian Science as Professor William Denton Sees It. 

936. "My friends, it often has been discussed whether or 
not Christian Science has any merits, and I would say to you 
that we do not recognize it as they teach. They say there is 
no matter. They teach that a person is never sick, but only 
thinks he is sick, and that to get rid of the supposed sickness 
all that is necessary is to think one's self well, and it is so. 

(a) "As to the first proposition: If there is no matter, 
how does the earth stand? And as to the second proposition, 
an answer to that is an answer and refutation of the first. 

(&) "Then it is a practical fact that in case of consump- 
tion — tuberculosis — the lungs waste away (or are the lungs 
only imaginary?), and though the patient could suppose that 
nothing is the matter with his lungs, and many comsumptives 
do not even think, suppose, or believe that they have tubercu- 
losis until the lungs are nearly all wasted away. And could 
the ravages of the parasite be arrested when the lungs be half 
gone, and the patient live on to the alleged age of Methuselah 
and then leave the body, and the Christian Scientist then exam- 
ine the lungs of that deceased patient, he would find the lungs 
still half gone and that the nine hundred years of steady belief 
had failed to restore the destroyed portion of the lungs. 

(c) "Here it was not the patient's thinking he had consump- 
tion that brought it on, for he never at any moment thought 
he had consumption or that he ever would have it. 

(d) "What did bring about this consumption? Let us look 
back a little, and in doing this we find that consumption, or 
lung decay, may be induced from any one of several causes; but 
in this case we find the patient's parents were afflicted with 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 329 

this kind of consumption. And we also trace to the*parentage 
of a thousand other cases and find that this kind of pulmonary 
consumption is transmissible, may be and often is inherited, 
and so in this case, and has always been beyond the control 
of the patient's thoughts. And this condition of decay or de- 
struction of the lungs is called a disease, or a diseased condi- 
tion of the lungs. This is what is meant by the phrase, 'The 
patient is diseased of, with, and by consumption'; or this, 'The 
disease of the patient is consumption.' 

937. "Again: This organ, the lungs, that is thus suscepti- 
ble of destruction, we call matter. 

(a) "So it seems to me that any reasoning person at all 
may trace this theme on through and see clearly that the fun- 
damental proposition of Christian Science is fallacious. Any 
other organ of the body, as well as the lungs, is subject to de- 
struction from parasites, from accident, and from various 
causes, and this abnormal condition is called disease, having a 
name of the disease according to its character and location, 
and some other arbitrary name cannot change the fact. You 
cannot change the fact by any new-fangled name whatever. 

(b) "The visible organism called the body must decay, 
must disintegrate, must die and become extinct as such organ- 
ism, and that condition that leads to this end is disease, and 
all the thought of all the minds in the universe cannot long 
delay this result of final dissolution; so that the theorizing and 
formulation of new names changes not the ultimate fact. And 
Christian Science is no science at all, and must, in the next 
few years, become a theory that was. Because it will soon be 
found that it cannot demonstrate any of its claims that are 
outside of Spiritualism, and that all of its actual facts are with- 
in and belong to the domain of Spiritualism." 

And here the reader is referred to "Rending the Vail," at 
paragraphs 2611-2614, 2617-2619, 2623-2624, and especially to 
Denton's Orations 4 and 5, from paragraphs 1943 to 2001, be- 
ginning on page 326 of "Rending the Vail," which set out some 
of the claims of Spiritualism, as to matter, mind, spirit, disease, 
and healing of disease. 

938. After Denton an Indian spirit came forth, and, speak- 
ing in his broken English, said: "Ugh, ugh! How, how! Me 
big Indian brave, smoke peace-pipe with paleface in happy 
hunting-ground. Help paleface to buffalo, ponies, and dogs; 
and when paleface comes to look for the peace country out of 
that land of tomahawks and seal ping-knives, Big Indian help 
paleface away and show to him the happy hunting-ground, 
where are no more tomahawks and dangling scalps, but where 
all is one great wigwam of smoking peace-pipes." (253-255, and 
page 114.) 



330 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Richard Carr. 

939. This spirit is entirely strange to the circle, but after 
some effort gets to vocalize fairly well, saying: 

(a) "Friends, it is with great pleasure that I am permitted 
an opportunity to try to express 10 you something of the expe- 
rience I have had since in the spirit life. Although I knew 
nothing of this great truth while on earth, I soon learned about 
it when I got here and have watched its dissemination among 
your people, and it now seems a great quandary to me why peo- 
ple, in the light of the developments of to-day, doubt this truth. 
But no matter; one day they will know all about it, and shut- 
ting their eyes and stopping their' ears on earth will not avail 
against the realities of the spirit world and the consequences 
of their earth lives. It is strange to me, too, that people, in 
the face of the inevitable fact that any day or hour each may, 
and only a little while at most and all now living there must 
quit the earth life, will not avail themselves of an opportunity 
to try, at least, to find out something of the 'What then?' It 
does seem to me that people ought to try to find out where they 
go when the body is in the ground. 

(b) "So strange that they are living so as to not try to 
think. And why do they shut themselves out of hearing of the 
voices calling from beyond the grave? 

(c) "As for me, I would not now exchange worlds, for 
yours is one of misfortune, of uncertainty, of wars, of cruelty, 
of awful carnage, of contention, of strife, of darkness, of shad- 
ows and gloom, whilst ours is a Avorld of joy, and gladness, 
and beauty, and glory. 

(d) "In our world there is no fear of calamity, nor pesti- 
lence, nor death; nor is there sorrowing for loved ones sup- 
posed to be gone to endless torment or eternal sleep. But all 
are found to be alive orer here, and alive for evermore, and 
moving on without retrogression into final salvation and re- 
demption out of every lowly condition into highest conditions 
of superlative happiness and joy unspeakable. And why the 
average mind should refuse to let this light of the spirit world 
shine upon and into his own soul is a quandary to me. My 
name is Richard Carr." 

Dr. Britt 

940. This spirit, it seems, was an associate of our Dr. 
Reed, at St. Louis, Missouri; and was there known to Mr. 
House, of this circle, who also knew Dr. Reed as a physician 
and druggist at St. Louis about the years 1845 to 1855. And 
now Dr. Britt once in a while is in the condition of visibilitv 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 331 

before this circle, renewing acquaintance with Mr. House and 
talking over events of their past lives before this spirit passed 
out of the mortal. Dr. Britt says that he is assisting Dr. Reed 
in the psychic work here. 

Lieu\,enant Jenkins. 

941. Soon after the battleship Maine was blown up, this 
spirit visited Mrs. House, who is clairvoyant and clairaudient, 
and introduced himself to her and to Mr. House, and told her 
that he is a person that was Lieutenant Jenkins of the unfortu- 
nate Maine. Some time afterward a copy of the roster of the 
battleship Maine, as given in the newspapers, contained the 
name of one person as Lieutenant Jenkins lost with the' 
battleship. 

(a) On two or three occasions this spirit has appeared in 
visible form at these seances and given some account of him- 
self; and on this occasion expressed himself as being well rec- 
onciled to his condition in spirit life, saying: 

(b) "Friends, I find this a beautiful country, and myself in 
a much better land, so to speak, than while on earth. In this 
land there are no carnal warfares, no contending between vast 
navies for personal possession of land or people, but all seems 
a world of peace, a world of harmony, a world where all is con- 
genial. Where no navies are blown to destruction, where the 
sword and the cannon no more for personal aggrandizement 
needlessly wrench- from rightful owners their happy, peaceable 
homes and turn them into some wilderness to starve or into 
some kind of vassalage to the conquering nabobs." 

Seance No. 67. 

October 4, 1900. 

942. This seance was almost an entire failure. Even the 
spirit Denton could scarcely vocalize at all, but in answer to 
this query of Dr. Schellhous, "Is misery in any sense proximate 
or remote, direct or indirect, a factor in the problem of happi- 
ness?" the spirit, in feeble utterance, answered: 

(a) "All of those things are necessary for one's develop- 
ment. If you never suffer, you could not realize the pleasure 
of entire freedom from suffering. The one who is never sick 
cannot realize the misery of his sick neighbor. You can readily 
see that it is necessary for one to go through certain experi- 
ences in order that he or she may realize the contrast between 
conditions producing misery and freedom from such conditions. 
The rich man has unhappy moments, sometimes more burden- 
some to him than experience of the man of poverty. You would 



332 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

not realize the pleasant flavor or taste of the peach but by com- 
parison with something acrid to the taste. The enjoyment of 
happiness depends on one's ability to discern the contrast be- 
tween conditions, and he cannot make the contrast without act- 
ual experience." 

The reader will find this use of experiences well exempli- 
fied in "Rending the Vail," at page 296, paragraphs 1634-1637. 

Dueling. 

943. The spirit Judge Terry undertook to tell of his expe- 
rience of dueling, but beyond a few sentences seemed unable 
to talk farther than to say: "It is all foolishness, but little less 
so than suicide. The difference being, principally, the one is 
by passion and the other from despondency. But in spirit life 
the duelist soon learns the supreme folly of what is called the 
'code of honor.' " 

Judge Terry killed Broderick in a duel, and many years 
after was killed by one Nagle. 

Seance No. 68. 

October 7, 1900. 
Tom Davis the Sailor, 

944. By Wesley as amanuensis. Wesley, standing at the 
writing-table, said: "Friends, it has been some time since we 
wrote, and now the conditions allow us to proceed and we shall 
do the best we can at this time." Then, picking up a tablet, 
and saying to the spirit for whom he proposes to write: "Now 
give it to me plainly." And beginning to write, the circle hear 
the communicating spirit dictating in a whisper till a page is 
written. Then Wesley tears the leaf of writing out, and says 
to the communicating spirit: "Go on now." And the dictation 
in a low whisper and the writing proceed to four pages, and 
here follows a copy, to- wit: 

945. "A sailor boy am I, though I am grizzled and gray. I 
have never known anything but the sea, and when I went down 
in an Atlantic gale, I did not know I was dead. I could feel 
the salt spray in my face and hear the winds roar, when all at 
once there bobs up an old friend, Scutty McClain. 

946. "I yell: 'Hello, Scutty! I thought you were in "Davy 
Jones' locker" long ago.' And he says: 'So I am, and so are 
you, Tom Davis.' 

(a) " 'Aye,' I said, 'I may be in my cups, but not in my 
grave. Say, Scutty,' says I, 'where did we strike such a beauty 
of a vessel? She is the trimmest barque I've seen for many 
a day. We ought to be able to show some of these lubbering 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 333 

old tubs a clean pair of heels.' Scutty says: 'Tom, this is in 
the spirit world.' 

(b) " 'Scutty,' says I, 'you may be right. It is spirits that 
ails me, but never the spirit world. My eyes! such a brig as 
this in Davy's locker? Not much, my boy.' Oh, the brig was 
a beauty! Sails white as snow and the deck sparkling in the 
light like silver. The wind was fair and the water was deep 
blue. So we were gliding along without any trouble whatever. 

(c) " 'Say, Scutty, how did you get here, and how is all 
this?' He says: 'Tom, would you believe, if you saw our old 
captain, that you were dead?' 

(d) " 'Sure,' says I; 'but I would like to see him once more. 
So heave to and give me a sight of the old boy.' 

947. "Well, the short of a long yarn is that it took me a 
long time to find out that I was dead, and a still longer time 
lo understand why a fellow must suffer for deeds that hurt 
himself worse than others. Oh! it has not been all plain sail- 
ing with me, and I have stood on decks that were as nice as the 
one Scutty and I met on; and I have weathered many a gale, 
and have heard the wind roar in the rigging more than once 
before I found a safe harbor. I tell you it pays to get the right 
bearings before you start upon your life's voyage." 

Jim Smith the Highwayman. 

948. Dr. Reed serves as amanuensis for this experience as 
the highwayman dictates thus, to-wit: 

(a) "You don't have persons of my stamp visit you often, 
I venture. I was a robber and murderer. I do not say this 
boastingly as I once did, for I sincerely regret my earthly 
career. I had a fair education, and had I chosen to be an hon- 
est man I would perhaps be living to-day, honored and re- 
spected among men, instead of in the accursed place I am now. 
All the fiendish devils and fiery hells that you might conjure up 
would pale into insignificance in comparison to the place I am 
now in. 

(o) "While on earth I went with a venturesome crowd into 
an unexplored cave, and it is the nearest comparison I can 
make. One seems to be surrounded by the same chilly air and 
the same utter darkness, except here it is unrelieved by even 
a flickering torchlight. The same uncertainty underfoot. I go 
groping about, never knowing whether the next step will take 
me onward or send me whirling to the depths below. You have 
no idea how I have suffered in this accursed place. I have no 
means of counting time, therefore I don't know whether 1 have 
been here months or vears. But if left to me, I would sav that 



334 BEYOND THE VAIL, 

I have been here for centuries. Curses and tears have allevi- 
ated me nothing. I have prayed earnestly to be delivered from 
my fate. At such times I often catch glimpses of the forms 
of my old chums. They seem to beckon me, but a horrible fear 
possesses me and I shrink farther back into the darkness. I 
think eternal punishment by fire would te better than this ever- 
lasting darkness. I would at least have light enough to see 
what was transpiring around me. 

949. "Once I heard my sister call my name, and I laid down 
upon my face for fear she would find me in that awful place. 
When I saw her last I was a young, handsome boy, in a com- 
fortable, happy home, indulged by parents and sister. How 
well I remember the sad day our mother died! She called me 
to her bedside and asked me to care for my sister, and with all 
the candor in the world I promised to do so. It is useless for 
me to say that I broke that promise. If I had not, I would not 
be here to-night. 

950. "The fondness for adventure and high living without 
labor has truly brought me to a terrible end. I left home with 
a friend, and from that I went from bad to worse, and finally 
wound up among robbers. I am ashamed to say it, but I be- 
came as hardened as any of the gang, and thought nothing of 
taking the life of my fellow-being. Mother, sister, home, and 
God soon became dim recollections to me, and one that I did 
not care to recall. 

(a) "I finally met my death, and since then have been in 
the horrible place I was telling you of. How much lpnger I 
shall be compelled to creep through this slimy darkness I can't 
tell. God forbid that it be much longer! 

951. "When Dr. Reed came for me, he talked like an angel 
(although I had no recollection of seeing pictures of angels 
wearing spectacles and chin whiskers), for it was the first 
brightness I had known since I found myself in this place. He 
talked to me in his kindly way, and persuaded me that it was 
best to come among you and tell you of my condition. And 1 
am glad that I have, for it is a relief to be able to tell you even 
of my misdeeds. I>r. Reed promised me that he would not 
reveal my real name, so you may call me Jim Smith. I can't 
tell you what a heavy load seems lifting since I began this 
recital. I thank you. Good-night." 

Bed Jacket and Martha Long Tail. 

952. Now comes the artist in his gleeful, jabbering man- 
ner and in his usual expeditious way executes the portraits of 
which these are copies. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



335 





RED JACKET 



MARTHA LONG TAIL. 



(a) Mrs. House says that when she lived at Cleveland, 
Ohio, in her younger days, she frequently visited the cemetery 
where the remains of the Indian Red Jacket were buried, and 
often, when weary of wandering about the grounds, she would 
sit down to rest upon the marble slab that was over his grave. 
And that when at this grave she could always sense the pres- 
ence of this spirit, and that Eed Jacket has often been with 
her ever since, and that his presence about her always produces 
a sensation of quietude and rest. 

(b) She says, also, that soon after coming to Kansas she 
met with an Indian woman by the name of Martha Long Tail, 
who belonged to the Miami's and to the Black Bob family. 
That this woman was educated at Shawnee Mission, and talked 
English very well; and that since the death of this Indian wo- 
man, she, too, in spirit is often near enough that her presence 
is felt, and seems pleasant. 



Victoria Best. 

953. This spirit, clad in white garments, after giving her 
name, said: "I find this spirit world is very delightful, pleas- 
ant, beautiful, and I find that all may have plenty to do all the 
time. And each can follow the line of work best suited to his 
or her condition. And, as for myself, I have the delightful 
task of gathering up the little ones that come to this world 
before having been born into your world, and placing them, 



336 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

here and there, at places prepared for their care and develop- 
ment. And there are many thousands of these cases, so that 
many spirits find an occupation in this work. 

954. "And the inebriate, the drunkard, often comes here 
as helpless as the most feeble child and needs someone to help 
him or her along, and such cases need special care, and there 
are nurseries for them just suitable. And I also find exercise 
for my energies in leading these along to their suitable situa- 
tions, and all these cases furnish ample opportunity for man} 7 
spirits to develop their souls into conditions of higher spirit- 
uality all the time, and in this work my soul takes the highest 
delight. 

955. "So you can see that the gathering up of these buds 
of promise which reveal for each one a vast future of infinite 
possibilities must furnish an unlimited field of labor for the 
occupation of innumerable willing hands." 

Denton. 

956. "I am glad you are having a grand, good time this 
evening; but while you are capable of appreciating our work, 
there are many souls so divested of certain faculties that they 
could not at all understand one thing about it. And, again, it 
is hard to put new ideas into old heads; but I wish to impress 
the idea that if the little ones could know of this fact, it would 
always be a blessing to them. There are many 'still-born' who 
reach this side of life and all so schooled that among their 
early lessons is this fundamental one of Spiritualism, and they 
grow up bright, intelligent, and happy. 

957. "Many children are very spiritual by nature on earth, 
and when they reach this side they are correspondingly in 
bright conditions. But many people on earth abhor to let their 
children go where there is a Spiritualist, for fear the little one 
will find out something awful. But, my friends, you should try 
to enlighten the little ones." 

Seance No. 69. 

October 11, 1900. 

958. Visitors present: Mrs. W. A. Miller, of Springdale, 
Arkansas; Mr. Eolla Schellhous and 0. M. Schellhous, Kansas 
City, Mo.; and Mary E. Wallace, Paola, Kansas. The conditions 
seemed to be very good, and the phenomenal display, in forms, 
vocalization, writing, spirit dancing, and spirit singing through 
the trumpet was very extraordinary. Dr. Keed, in opening, ex- 
pressed himself as being delighted with the conditions, prom- 
ising that, if the circle maintained its status throughout, the 
spirits would reward with good results. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 337 

Professor William Denton. 

959. "I am glad to be among you again, but I shall not 
detain you long at this time. Before the race of human beings 
will be perfect, they must understand the laws of themselves 
and of Nature. Not until they know and obey something of 
the laws governing their physical lives will they be able to 
■discern the laws of the realm of spirit. But however wonder- 
fully little you know of the physical side of life, still less must 
you know of the spirit side. When the natural laws controll- 
ing the physical shall become much more understood by your 
world, then perhaps they can begin to surmise something aright 
of spiritual things. 

960. "People in your world are there by certain laws of 
environment which determine and control their conditions. The 
environments make the conditions and to change the conditions 
the environments must be changed. But the laws of environ- 
ment are operative, to a great extent, before birth into your 
world, over which laws the person in foetal life can have no 
control, yet these laws make the environing conditions consti- 
tutional with the individual. Therefore if such environing con- 
ditions produce a poorly developed brain and consequent idiocy, 
the idiocy is the result of the antenatal environment, and the 
idiot cannot help his idiocy nor can he be blamed for it; and, 
under the law, he cannot manifest anything but idiocy. 

961. "Again, these ante-natal conditions may result to 
the individual in production of idiocy as to one organ, or the 
manifestation of one faculty, and a wonderful prodigy as to 
another organ, and the individual no more accountable for the 
one than the other. And you know, friends, that it is utterly 
impossible for one, whether his conditions are satisfactory or 
not, to change them by a voluntary new birth into your world. 
The idiot cannot progress out of his idiocy until born from the 
earthly environments into the spirit world, and there he may 
progress. 

962. "So, friends, it is hard to live the earth life and have 
all peace; and the environments of diversity are necessary to 
stimulate to conditions of progress." 

The Executioner. 

963. Wesley Aber, as amanuensis, next took on the con- 
dition of visibility, and thus standing at the writing-table, 
picked up a tablet and began writing; and having a page writ- 
ten, began to jerk the leaf that contained the writing from the 
tablet, and at the same time began talking; took the written 
leaf out, placed it on the table, wrote on another, tore it from 
the tablet, and then another and another Leaf being written 

bv — 22 



338 BEYOND THE JAIL. 

upon and torn from the tablet, till eight pages of writing being 
done and the leaves thereof torn out of the tablet and laid upon 
the table. 

964. While writing, the spirit continued talking, saying: 
''The poor fellow who gives me this — 1 feel sorry for him. He 
was a sheriff and an executioner, and delighted in his calling; 
but I pity him now in his lowly condition." 

965. And here, as the spirit tore from the tablet the third 
leaf, he tore off one corner of the leaf across the word ''there- 
fore," leaving the corner so torn off fast to the tablet. Then 
tore that off and sent it by one of the circle across the room to 
the secretary. So that the whole circle could and did witness 
this as an absolute test in this case. 

966. But the spirit continued writing, as before stated, 
and just here the newsboy outside yelled, "St&rf" (Kansas City 
Star), and the spirit said, as he continued writing: "Stranger 
they grabble for the papers, so eager to find out how many have 
died, how many have been murdered, how many have been 
slaughtered, and how much wickedness is going on in your 
world. But of Spiritualism they would not read, they would 
spurn such literature as would reveal to them the true doom 
of the inhuman wrongdoer, even of this great and pitiful expe- 
rience of this sheriff, who hanged many people. But there will 
come a time to many, as did to this poor soul, who is now in 
worse than darkest dungeon." 

967. And the writing is finished at the word "dungeon" 
and laid upon the table, and the amanuensis was gone away in- 
stantly, and another spirit, Dr. Reed, gathered up the papers 
of writing, carried them across the room to the secretary, and 
the writing is read to the circle immediately at close of seance, 
and the following is a copy of that strange and weird experi- 
ence of the sheriff and executioner: 

968. "Some time ago Dr. Reed sent me to find a spirit who 
had been a sheriff in his earth life. I hunted for one for some 
time who would come to you and give you his experience, but 
I could not persuade one of them to come. I found one, how- 
ever, who was willing to relate his experience to me. So I am 
at least prepared to give you that in substitution of their per- 
sonal experience as we had hoped to do. 

969. "This man had hanged several persons during the 
time he served his country as sheriff. He was a low, heavy-set 
man, with a low forehead and small bright eyes, and a cruel 
chin added to the repulsiveness of his face. 

970. "I found him in a dark, gloomy prison, a prison of 
his own making, for he had delighted in making others suffer 
in dark, gloomy places, and now he is experiencing some of the 
misery his captives felt. He was sitting moodily alone, his gar- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 339 

ments untidy and his hair and beard shaggy and unkempt when 
I appeared before him. I stood looking down upon him some 
time before he seemed to recognize another presence. He 
greeted me with, 'How in the h — 1 did you get here?' I told 
him that I had desired to communicate with him and therefore 
I was with him. He muttered something about d — d fools and 
liars, and then sat silently. I drew his story from him, piece 
by piece, and it was this: 

971. "He had been a man with some political influence, 
and when he aspired to the oflice of sheriff he had no difficulty 
in being elected and had served several terms. 

972. "To use his own vernacular, he had 'strung up' seven 
men in his time and was mighty proud of his record. He told 
me stories of cruelty that I do not care to repeat, that had come 
under his notice and by his sanction; and he told them in such 
a gloating way, as if they were choice stories. 

973. "While he was in the midst of his story-telling he 

started up and shrieked: 'Don't you hear that d d noise? 

They are at it again.' I listened, but could hear no sound. I 
then asked him what they were doing? He replied that they 
were building a scaffold to string him up on. He raved and 
swore until I began to lose hope of getting anything more in- 
telligible from him, but at last I managed to quiet him down, 
and it was then I found out that he did not know he was dead. 

974. "He thought he had been placed in that prison by 
political enemies, and that they were going to hang him to get 
him out of the way. 1 asked him if he remembered how he 
came to die? And he swore at me roundly, and said he never 
had been sick in his life. I then asked him how he came to 
be where he was, and if he could remember the last day before 
he was in prison, and he said: 'Now look here, pardner, bein's 
as ye air so tuck up with me an' my doin's, I '11 jist tell ye how 
the thing happened. 

975. " 'Ye see me and Bill Dawson was out arter two fel- 
lers what wus wanted mighty bad, and at last we run 'em in 
tew kiver. An' while we wus trvin' t'»w get 'em tew throw up 
thar hands, one nv 'em plugged me in the side, and when I cum 

tew, I was here. I naeherally reckon that d d cuss Bill put 

me in here on some trumped-up tale; and nary liar nor hide hev 
I seen uv Bill, nor anyone else, for that matter, since then. Oh, 
but I '11 give 'em h — 1 when I dew git out! 

976. " 'Dew ye know, one day I thot I hern thai devil, Joe 
Seems he called himself, that I hung nigh onto ton voar ago, 
sayin': ''Oh, they've got ye now, old feller, an' air goin' tow 
hang ye.'' I hunted high and low for The sun-uv a gun, but 
couldn't find 'im. Though T knew he wus dead 'nough, thai 
blasted voice bothered me a heap, I kin tell ye. Ye are the first 
man T 've seen, and I am d d glad tow soo ye. What did 



340 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

they git ye fur? Dimins, I bet, fur sich a dressed-up chap 
wouldn't be up to nothin' else.' 

977. "I told him that I had been in the spirit world for 
many years and that he was in the spirit world also, but in a 
lower condition than I. He looked at me for some time, then 

said: 'Loony, I '11 be d d! fur none but an ediot or fool would 

talk like that.' I asked him if he ever saw any of the men he 
hung. And he said his 'd d eyes' got kinder queer some- 
times, and he thought he could see 'em, but uv course he 
couldn't. I tried to convince him that he was in the spirit 
world, but he told me to go to h — 1, that he was tired of such 
nonsense. 

978. "And as my task was fulfilled, I came away and left 
him in his gloomy cell. He had extended mercy to none and 
could not see how anyone could be different from himself." 

Musings of the Secretary. 

979. If the reader should say to himself, "Pshaw! what 
nonsense the foregoing!" would he please look around himself? 
It is June, a most lovely, delightful morning, balmy air laden 
with summer's sweetest aromas; beautiful song-birds every- 
where, everything so musical. Man and woman and children 
and horses and cattle and fowls of the barnyard, everything 
joyous and happy. All everywhere one supremely glorious 
heaven. Hark! the iire-bells! A moment more come dashing 
up the street and pass you by the firemen. On they go and 
all their engines and horses and their entire accouterments, 
rushing like a wild tornado. Look on ahead! See that smoke 
toward which the firemen aud whole populace are rushing? 
Where? Whose house is that? " James Thompson's house!" 
"My God!" you exclaim. "Great heavens, it is my house!" You 
rush on with the wild crowd and get to your home that was 
so happy an hour ago and all is on fire. Look up yonder in 
that window. See there your wife with a child in her arms; 
see the angry flames about mother and your own dear little 
one. Hear their last shrieks for help; see them fall to the 
pavement. The firemen grabble up mother and child and just 
as you get there, deliver to you the dead bodies of your own 
wife and little three-year-old Evangeline. 

What is that sweet summer morning of two hours ago to 
you now? What the songs of birds? What the bright sun- 
shine? Everything changed to darkest gloom. For years you 
hear those awful shrieks from the flames in that fatal window. 
It may take a whole lifetime to have another such June morn- 
ing return to you. But the morning after that awful fire and 
to you while all is dark despair, your neighbors have another 
sweet June day, and -year after year the lovely Junes do come 
and go to others, but nevermore to you until you meet beyond 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 341 

the vail dear wife and little Evangeline. What was it that so 
suddenly changed brightest heaven on earth to gloomiest, dark- 
est night? 

980. Relative conditions of yourself, of your own conscious 
self in ignorance supposed to be irreparably changed. So the 
spirit of the hangman, the murderer, the wrongdoer, is related 
by strongest ties to all his criminal acts on earth, to all that 
he has mside miserdble on earth; and as the husband and father 
hears in spirit to his own dying day the innocent shrieks of per- 
ishing wife and little Evangeline, so the spirit of the wrong- 
doer bears in itself an image of all connected with his wrong- 
doing, continually revolving upon his inner consciousness, and 
though locally in purest heaven, his relations to his earth life 
make for himself the gloomiest hell. Thus he hears the car- 
penters erecting a scaffold and the avenging words of the one 
he hanged, and feels the pangs of the bereft home which he 
made desolate. 

981. Then the artist, in his usual test conditions, made a 
life-size portrait of a little girl not fully identified, but perhaps 
it is little Ruth, and is therefore set in at paragraph 1207. 

Mary Miller. 

982. This spirit, in the usual white apparel of the lady 
forms here, appeared and identified herself to Mrs. Miller as 
her mother (in law), then in a whisper said: 

(a} "I am Mary Miller, and 1 am so glad my daughter came 
here where I can meet her face to face, and I wish that my 
son William were also here, for it would be a great pleasure to 
me to meet him in this way, and of great benefit to him. 1 
would be glad to tell him about the beauty of the spirit world 
to those who are prepared for it. And I would be pleased also 
to have an opportunity of telling him something about what is 
required. But I shall have to be satisfied at this time to say a 
word for my daughter there to convey to William. 

983. "I find this a beautiful country, inhabited by great 
numbers of people who once inhabited your world, and many 
of these are in happy and glorious conditions; and I am so 
pleased with the spirit world. And I am getting along rapidly, 
and find plenty of work, as we call it, over here, so that I am 
able to be employed profitably all the time. 

984. ."I would say to my daughter and to my son that a 
good life on earth is rewarded over here with the plaudit, 'Well 
done, 1 of the waiting spirits; but above all is the joy of one's 
own conscience whispering, 'Well done.' Remember, then, my 
children, and be prepared to be at peace with yourselves, and 
many white-robed friends gone before you will give you happy 



342 



It K\ UN It THE VAIIj. 




MRS. MARY MILLER. 



greeting when you will have reached this side of life, 
cannot stay longer now. Good night." 



But I 



Dr. Clark, a Pill Doctor. 

985. This, it seems, is another spirit that accompanied 
Mrs. Miller to these seances, and after making his identity clear- 
ly known to her, he began talking quite lively and distinctly, 
and in a somewhat mirthful, sarcastic, and emphatic manner, 
said: 

(a) "I am Dr. Clark. I was what you call a pill doctor. 
These pill doctors are more nuisance than anything else when 
you come to sum up their whole practice. The old pill doctor, 
or 'regular,' will tell you just what I do: that more than half 
their patients who die do so because of the fatal practice of 
their system. 



BEXOND THE VAIL. 343 

(&) "And what do you think of Christian Science?*' 
Circle: u Not much improvement on the pill doctor." 
Spirit: "Well, no, I guess not. While they may be instru- 
mental in saving one life, their ignorance and egotism allow 
one or two to die. I tell you folks that I am ashamed of my 
practice. And there are many of my patients over here whom 
I am ashamed to meet, because they know, and I know, that 
my prescriptions sent them out of their bodies, while if they 
had been without a doctor they would have recovered. And 
others, if they had been treated properly, would he yet in their 
mortal bodies. And I am not the only conscience-smitten doc- 
tor over here, either. There are great long rows of them. And 
I see you have a doctor in your circle. 

"Say, doctor, what do you think of this 'materia medica' 
business, anyway?" 

Dr. Schellhous: "I got so ashamed of it that I quit it 
long ago." 

Spirit: "Well, that was sensible. But white I keep on 
doctoring I have quit that pill business myself, and the entire 
practice of the regulars; but I have great faith in the magnetic 
— in fact, I am a fanatic on that now. But I am ashamed of 
my old practice. What is the matter with the doctor over 
there, that he don't seem to hear me very well?" 

Circle: "He's a little deaf, something ails his ears." 
Spirit: "Well, why don't he get his ears doctored? 

986. "But I began to know of this Spiritualism before I 
passed out and was beginning to see that something besides 
pills is necessary to successful practice; and I find that part 
of that something is magnetism, spirit magnetism. The little 
knowledge that I did have of Spiritualism was of much help to 
me when I got here. But T should have known more of it. I 
would have been farther on, though I am now doing quite well." 

Advice to Mr. Rolla Schellhous, 

987. As he is about to make a trip to Mexico. The spirits 
advise him to be on his guard all the time; that some pretend 
to be his friends who are not, and that the only safe way is to 
regard himself as his only safe friend, and himself alone as his 
own safety. 

Jesse Boling. 

988. This spirit, while on earth, was a huckster by profes- 
sion, and lived in south central Indiana most of the time (about 
from 1840 to 1854), while rearing a large family, and except the 
-secretary, was entirely unknown to the circle. And now he 
comes to the condition of visibility, talking in his old stutter- 
ing habit, saying: "Ha h-h-how de-de-do ye-y-y-ye-ou d-d d-do, 
.-ah-ah en-en-en ny-w-w-way?" 



344 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

Secretary: "Hello! Jesse Boling, I believe. Good-evening,, 
my good old neighbor. How have you been all this time? Re- 
member that turkey? Where is your daughter Rachel? And 
how did you find things over there?" 

Spirit: "Y-y-yes, I-I-I-I 'm B-B-B-Boling— O-O-Old J- J- Jess. 
R-R-R Rach i-i-is ou-ou-out i-i-i-in I-I-Indiany, wh-wh-whar ye* 
ye-ye-ye-you s-s-s-seed her 1-1-1-last. Th-th-th-that n-n-nigger 
th-th-th-thought t-t-t-turkey w-w-w-wuz a gr-gr-great thing. D-d- 
d-don't kn-n-n-know how 1-1-1-long f-f-f-fore I w-w-w-woke up, 
b-b-b-but hev been g-g-g-gettin' o-o-on p-p-purty well s-s-since."' 
And in the same stuttering manner continues, saying: "Purty 
dark for a time, but getting light now. This is a mighty nice 
country. Niggers don't steal my turkeys, but I don't take any 
more to Louisville market nohow. If ye 'd let me swear, I could 
talk better. But I 'm fallin' to pieces and must go." And the 
spirit vanished. 

989. The reader is asked to excuse a remark of the secre- 
tary here, because that a few sanctimonious persons who have 
examined "Rending the Vail" think it horribly sacrilegious 
that a spirit should return to earth and act as it did while it 
lived here on earth. And especially so if the spirit exhibit 
mirthfulness. 

990. But according to their Bible (St. John xxi.), in order 
that their Jesus, the captain of their salvation, shall make his 
identity known to his disciples and apostles, while they are 
out fishing, he comes back, appears to them from the dead, 
talks with them and they talk to him about the solemn and 
worldly matter of catching fish, broiling and broiled fjsh and 
eating fish. And did Jesus make that fire and put the fish on 
to cook and have them ready to eat when the disciples got 
ashore? And on another occasion he took broiled fish and 
honeycomb and did eat of it. (Luke xxiv. 43.) Modern long 
faces would think it "awful" if a spirit now would come back, go 
fishing, make a fire, cook the fish, and then sit down and eat 
of the fish and honeycomb; and if he would do so on Sunday, 
they would send a sheriff after him. But it seems some of 
those people who could "strain at a gnat and swallow a camel" 
have children living yet. Nevertheless, it must have been a 
very good materialization that could eat fish and honeycomb. 

991. But a^ain, we are told that after Jesus had appeared 
unto the disciples and had talked to them and proven his iden- 
tity, he then led them out to Bethany and was there "parted 
from them and carried up into heaven"; but one Thomas, who 
was not present at the meeting, would not believe what the 
others said about it except he see the wounds and thrust his 
fingers and hand into them. And after eight days the disci- 
ples were together and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus,. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 345 

the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said to 
Thomas, "Reach hither thy finger and behold My hands, and 
reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side, and be not 
faithless." (St. John xx. 27.) And Thomas was convinced, ex- 
claiming, "My Savior and my God!" And their Savior could 
appear to them one day in one form of body, and eight days 
afterward could appear in another form of body and could pass 
in and out of an upper chamber, "the doors being shut." Now 
does any sensible Christian suppose that his Jesus is now in 
heaven in that body that was showed to Thomas, or in the other 
body that he appeared in eight days before? 

Well, Jesse Boling is free in spirit from the old body and 
the stammering tongue, but this scribe would not recognize 
him unless he stutter, nor unless he tell of life occurrences, 
such as the turkey case, which was this: 

992. Boling hauled his produce and marketing to Louis- 
ville, Ky., and on this occasion had his wagon backed up to 
the old-style market-house at daylight in the morning, and, as 
it was just dawn and Boling happened a few steps away from 
his coops, a colored person slipped a large turkey from the 
coop and Boling gave chase, but the darky got away with the 
turkey. Just as Boling gave up the chase, another colored fel- 
low yelled: "Hello, Sambo, whar you got dat turkey?" 

Sambo: "Stole 'im. Yes. sah, I stole 'im. Dat is de great 
est ting yit. Ya, ya!" 

And all of this occurred before our medium was born, and 
he never knew anything, anyway, of this whole matter, but 
this whole circle would tell the reader that this record of the 
manner and sayings of this spirit at this time is true, and none 
of us can swear farther from the truth than is recorded of 
Peter. So that if we are liars, we are just in condition to asso- 
ciate with witnesses to the materializations of the alleged Jesus. 

Seance No. 70. 

October 14, 1900. 

993. Though the circle was full at this time, from some 
cause the phenomena seemed indifferent, but sometimes condi- 
tions are in the way that the circle knows not of. And some- 
times the spirits deem it not best to give out a great deal, espe- 
cially if some of the circle need to find out that mortals do not 
produce the phenomena to order just to amuse themselves. 

Alice House, (Page 52.) 

994. Daughter of C. V. N. House and his first wife Mary, 
who long ago passed to spirit life. In 1850 Alice was born at 
St. Louis, Mo., and passed to spirit life July 16, 1898, at Kan- 



346 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

sas City, Mo., aged forty-two years. She had a common-school 
education and a commercial course, taken at Kansas City. She 
was a very efficient book accountant, beginning practical work 
at Kansas City, and about 1884 was in business at White Sul- 
phur Springs, Va. ; thence to Washington, D. C, at commercial 
bookkeeping, and by the assistance of Mrs. Hurst, wife of Hon. 
Mr. Hurst, M. C, of Sedalia, Mo., she secured a clerkship in 
the United States postal service, Dead Letter Office, about 1886, 
and so continued up to failing health in 1898, a period of twelve 
years. 

995. This portrait, like most others copied into this book, 
is intended to represent the spirit as she now appears in spirit 
life, which is also as she was on earth in her early womanhood 
prime, and those who knew her during her last few years on 
earth would not be expected to recognize the likeness at first 
sight. But her father and step-mother are well satisfied of the 
likeness as representing her appearance at seventeen to twenty 
years of age. The reader will readily connect the foregoing 
brief account of the life of Alice with the statements she now 
makes concerning her experiences, on both sides of life, which 
she dictates to the spirit Wesley Aber as amanuensis. He, 
standing in the condition of visibility to the circle, writes the 
dictation of which the following is an exact copy, to-wit: 

Advantage of a Knowledge of Spiritualism. 

996. "My experience in spirit life has not covered as long 
a period of time as the experiences of many who have visited 
you before, yet I think I have something quite different from 
any of the others to relate. I was, of course, prepared for the 
change. I knew something of Spiritualism and therefore went 
out with no false conceptions of spirit life. 

The Spirit Home of Mary House. 

997. "My mother and a band of spirits met me and con- 
ducted me to a most magnificent place. It was a large stately 
mansion, something like the old homesteads in Virginia that T 
always admired so much. The same wealth of trees surround- 
ed the house, and they were sparkling as if covered with dia- 
mond dust, and the house itself was built of some highly pol- 
ished material that reflected the outside scenery like massive 
mirrors. 

998. "The interior is beyond my powers of description. I 
had never seen anything on earth equal to the luxuriousness 
of this. Beautiful pictures that must have been the work of 
master hands adorned the walls. White statues glistened in 
the soft light. The beautiful furniture all went to make up a 
picture beyond the pow T er of my pen to describe. I found that 



BEYOND TEE VAIL. 347 

this was my mother's home, and that I was to stay there until 
I felt able to take up some duty in the spirit world. 

Spirit Postal Telegraph System. 

999. "As many of you know, I was in the Government 
service in the earth life, and when a spirit friend came to me 
and said, 'Alice, would you like to see how the postal system 
of the spirit world is carried on?' you can imagine how anxious; 
1 was to accompany him. We went to a massive building- where 
many people seemed very busy. They were not collecting nor 
distributing mail, however, nor were any of the employees uni- 
formed. He explained that they had to have some central place 
for concentrating their forces, and that the spirits employed 
in sending messages had been trained to the work. 

1000. ''For instance, if Dr. Reed should want a certain 
spirit that anyone in the circle might ask for, you say he sends 
Sam or Bessie, as the case may be. In uncommon cases he 
does this, but as a usual thing Sam or Bessie gets en rapport 
with the central office, as we will call it, and spirits who have 
grown expert in this mode of sending messages will send out a 
message to the spirits desired and ask them to hasten to the 
seance, and Sam or Bessie waits for the reply and tells you 
when the spirit can be with you. 

(a) "The spirits in the central office, as I call it, have been 
in spirit life so many years that they have no one on the earth 
to attract them from their duties. 

1001. "I, myself, am teaching, and find my work very 
pleasant. I am glad that I visited this place in order that I 
might tell you of something, and because the experience was 
a very pleasant one to me. Alice House." 

Isaac Pierce. 

1002. The artist, under his usual test conditions, made a 
life-size bust portrait of a man, and the picture was recognized 
by Dr. Schellhous as a jrood likeness of one of his old friends, 
whose name was Isaac Pierce. A spirit claiming this name had 
on two or three occasions demonstrated his identity to the 
entire satisfaction of the Doctor, and now, as soon as the 
Doctor sees this picture, he exclaims: 

(a) "What a perfect likeness, to mv memory, of my old 
friend Isaac Pierce! He and I were companions from early 
boyhood to manhood in the vicinity of Leonidas, St. Joseph 
County, Michigan. In 1851 his father became a Spiritualist, 
and the oldest sister an excellent medium. In 1852 we crossed 
the plains together to California, and he returned to Michigan 
in 1864, and passed to spirit life in 1885. 



348 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 




ISAAC PIERCE. 



(1002.1 



1003. "He was genial, sincere, iionest, and kind; and as 
a friend he was ever true and faithful. What a profound, what 
a palpable, what an absolutely scientific demonstration of fu- 
ture life and spirit return! Oh, the good news! Oh, this sweet, 
this blessed gospel! This continued coming of the 'son of man' 
and his daughter, too ! This insignificant Spring Hill, yet more 
than Bethany and Mount Olivet, more than Tabor and Moses 
and Elias talking with Him! Here is a son of man 'living, who 
was dead,' but we behold him 'alive forever more.' And because 
he liveth we know that we also likewise shall live beyond the 
tomb." 

Seance No. 71. 

October 16, 1900. 

Professor William Denton. 

1004. The reader will have observed, from perusal of the 
foregoing pages, that this spirit seems to have a superior abil- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 349 

ity as compared to others to vocalize at nearly every seance, 
regardless of conditions. And at this time, although condi- 
tions were very unfavorable, yet he, in good oral speech, said: 

Cumulative Evidences of Spirit Return. 

(a) "My friends, so great is the volume of evidence of the 
fact of spirit return, and such evidence so generally diffused 
among the people all over your world, that for one to assert 
that Spiritualism is not true betrays in such person evidence 
of most stupid ignorance. In fact, the phenomena evidencing 
the claims of Spiritualism are now so general that one might 
as well say that people do not exist on the earth. Most peo- 
ple might as well say that Pike's Peak does not exist, for the 
evidence of Spiritualism is more palpable and attainable to 
most people than evidence of the existence of Pike's Peak. 

(b) "If the papers tell of Pike's Peak and other natural 
objects and phenomena, real or imaginary, the people believe 
it all right; but if the same papers tell a thousand times over 
of the occurrence of psychic phenomena, the people will not 
believe this. But if there be a line of exposure of some medi- 
um, 'Oh, yes, the thing is all done for now, exposed — that set- 
tles it.' It does seem that many people do want to believe what 
is not true, in preference to that which is true. Friends, you 
believe China exists because someone says so. But when that 
same one not only tells, but gives proof of this great light of 
the spirit world, they don't believe that." 

Robert G. Ingersoll. 

1005. For some reason this spirit was not able to so mate- 
rialize as to appear anything more than a dim shadow in the 
room, nor could he speak as on two former occasions here, but 
sufficiently clear to be recognized by his voice and his anti- 
theology, in substance as follows: 

(a) "Can it be possible that there exists a personal God 
as theology claims, while cyclones, earthquakes, casualties, 
disease and pain of every kind bear innocent babes and pray- 
ing Christian mothers right on to premature destruction? If 
there be a God of mercy and justice, why do innocent peop!e 
and harmless babes suffer more intense torture and pain thai) 
the most hardened criminal or the lowest immoralist? Never 
was anything among men that carried human desolation in its 
wake as does Christianity. But they say their God is a just 
God. Why, then, does he allow those little ones to suffer such 
intense torture? 

1000. "No, friends, I find no such God. nor do I find any 
spirits that ever found such an one. And spirits here who 



350 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

have been in spirit many ages say they find no such God. And 
they also say that they never met any spirit, however old, that 
ever found a personal being such as the Christians claim their 
God to be. 

(a) "All the God that is known in the spirit world is law, 
innate to the constitution of Nature, self-acting, eternal law." 

Seance No. 72. 

October 18, 1900. 

1007. Full attendance of the circle, with Mrs. Miller still 
present, and Judge E. E. Chesney, Kansas City, Mo., also a 
visitor. The reader should not forget that the minute record 
of each seance is read at the next succeeding seance, and that 
the circle criticise and suggest any needed corrections, and 
then pass the minutes to the spirits. Any error passed by the 
circle is always detected by the spirits and emphatically spoken 
of by them, so that the minutes thus corrected are as near to 
a truthful record as it is possible. The phenomena of this 
seance were much better than is usual when a stranger to the 
seances is present. But, as usual when a new element with con- 
genial magnetisms is present, much of the phenomena Were for 
the individual benefit of Judge Chesney, and to his expressed 
joy, comfort, and satisfaction. After the spirit Dr. Reed had 
opened the seance by oral salutation and greeting, 

Professor William Denton, 

Taking on the form and condition of visibility, said: 

(a) "Mr. Secretary, you have a mistake in your copy of 
that experience that was written at last seance, as you read 
it this evening. 'Employers' should read 'employees.' " This 
error had escaped the circle, but the spirit, seeing it important 
that the error be corrected, was quick to so report. 

(b) The reader may see how critical the spirits are of the 
correctness of the secretary's records of the proceedings. 

Changes and Experiences Are All Necessary. 

1008. After making the corrections as above set out, the 
spirit Denton, continuing right on in good oral speech, said: 

(a) "Friends, you know your lives on earth are made up 
of many changes. All is continual change. Even your ideas of 
one day are chaDged the next day by experience of passing and 
changing events and conditions. But not so with us. Here, 
while we have changes, they are all in direct line of unfold- 
ment; and in your world ideas governing different ones, even 
on a given subject, are widely different, because each one must 
form his opinions to conform to his environments, and no two- 
persons in your world have exactly the same environments; 
therefore, there must be different ideas. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 351 

, (b) "But when you pass out of your earthly conditions and 
arrive here, most of your ideas or the ideas of most people must 
change, as to the nature and conditions of the spirit world, 
from a diversity of ideas to nearly uniformity of ideas in this 
matter, because here you have presented you, as to general con- 
ditions, uniformity of facts as your developments become pre- 
pared to receive them. 

(c) "But all diversities of experiences on your plane are 
necessary for your highest good in ultimate development. And, 
in order that you reach the spirit world in the best condition 
for your own good, for your own happiness, it is necessary for 
you to pursue that course of life on earth that will develop your 
spirituality. 

The Way of Spiritual Development. 

1009. "There is always a spark of good in the nature of 
every human being, however lowly his lot be cast. Therefore, 
never turn away from your door any imploring soul, for some- 
where in such soul is a pearl of priceless value. And oh, what 
wrongs, what fearful wrongs do parents in driving children 
away from home. Out into the great world of temptations,, 
driven by the cold, cruel conduct of parent, where no warm 
hearts are beating for the banished child. How forgetful some 
people are! Once just such children themselves, and had they 
been driven from home, the great maelstrom of temptations 
would have driven them headlong into the whirlpool of dismal 
despair. Oh, man! oh, woman! you should ever remember that 
you were once a child yourself and may not be much more now. 
When you see in a child the ways of a child, oh, do remember, 
if you can, when you yourself were a child." 

Ellis Young. 

1010. There came into visibility a spirit which was not 
recognized, nor did he give any name, but speaking quite clear- 
ly, though in very peculiar tones of voice, and with deep emo- 
tional feeling, as he walked about over the floor between the 
circle and cabinet, said: 

(a) "This is a glorious thing to contemplate: that we can 
come here and meet you, as in the olden time, face to face. 
But the Christian world, the Church, is so curious and acts so 
strangely, shutting its doors and blinding its windows against 
every ray of light that comes struggling from beyond the 
grave. Oh, if I could have known this while on earth, bow 
great my advantage would have been, and how much happier 
I would have been on reaching this side of life!" 

1011. TTere the spirit Ellis Young, being unable longer to 
hold the form, faded away into the invisible condition, and in- 



352 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

stantly a form in the similitude of a young woman dressed in 
garments of shining white came forth, announcing the name 
"Caroline." The secretary recognized this name as having 
been given here before with failure of further identity ; then the 
spirit drew near to the secretary, showing herself to be the 
same person, and saying, "Caroline Rembrant," returned into 
the cabinet. 

S. M. Wood and His Slayer. 

1012. This spirit came from the cabinet in good make-up 
and approached near to Judge Chesney, saying: "Don't you 
know me, Mr. Chesney — S. M. Wood? Don't you know that 
they never brought that man to trial yet for murdering me?" 

Mr. Chesney: "Yes, Sam, I know that, but he cannot es- 
cape justice. He must be suffering now. I am glad, Colonel, 
that I meet you here." 

Spirit (with much feeling): "Yes, my friend, it is a glori- 
ous privilege thus to meet again. Yes, yes. The man is suffer- 
ing now. But wait until he gets to this side. Then indeed 
will th^ poor fellow feel heavily the hand of retribution, though 
his cowardly act sent me out of my body, and though he fixed 
it so as not to get his earthly deserts, yet I can pity the poor 
soul as he must grope his way alone and in darkness. And I 
want to thank you, my friend, for your manifest sympathy 
for me and mine." And with such pathos did the spirit address 
the Judge that he and the whole circle were in tears wjien the 
spirit had gone away from our vision. 

William West. 

1013. This spirit approached very near to Mr. House, and 
Mr. House desired to shake hands, but the spirit declined, 
saying: 

(a) "There may be great meaning in hand-shaking. Great, 
deep feeling expressed thus of lasting friendship; and then, 
too, of mere conventionality, and some can shake with any 
degree of hypocrisy." 

Sam 

1014. Renews acquaintance with Mr. Chesney, talking of 
various matters, and finally gets to the subject of 

The Proper Conduct of Seances. 

(a) "As to the seance-room, there should be a room set 
apart for the sole purpose of the seance, and no strange influ- 
ences should at any time be allowed in that room. Even the 
circle should occupy that room only for the seance. 



BEYOND TEE VAIL. 353 

(b) "There should be a reception-room, a waiting-room. 
Here the circle should wait until seance time, then enter the 
seance-room; and, as soon as the seance closes, immediately 
repair to the waiting-room. 

(c) "Every feeling of contention, of bickering, of ill or un- 
kind feeling toward anyone, every shadow of jealousy, all 
should be left outside the seance-room. Such should never be 
allowed to enter there, and ought not to be in any of the cir- 
cle, one toward another, and if possible, not toward a neigh- 
bor. Else how can one enter the seance-room with a pure and 
peaceable heart? This would be the way to get the best and 
purest influences from the spirit world." 

1015. Sam here lays down a hard rule for imperfect hu- 
manity to follow, yet obviously it is right. One thing is certain. 
Unfavorable personal comment of one another or of our neigh- 
bors could be avoided at our meetings, if a firm resolve be 
made to do so. Simple as this lesson of Sam's is, yet it must 
be admitted that neither he nor any other could give higher or 
better advice. And the members of every circle in the world 
could hardly do better than to read it on every occasion in the 
waiting-room before going into the seance-room. 

Gema Wathins Murdered by a Maniac. 

1016. Wesley, as amanuensis for dictators, now comes to 
the arena table, takes a tablet, and writes while some other 
spirit dictates to him, in whisper, this message, to-wit: 

(a) "I have been among you so often that I did not think 
Dr. Reed would care for my experience, but he tells me he 
would like for me to tell you how 1 came to pass to spirit life 
and how 1 have spent my time since. 

(b) "I was murdered several years ago in Texas. At that 
time my parents were not Spiritualists, and I, of course, knew 
nothing of Spiritualism. Up to the time of inv sudden pass- 
ing out, my life had been as uneventful as that of any young- 
girl who is loved and indulged by both parents. Our home 
was a very happy one, and death came like a heavy blow. My 
ideas of heaven were the usual orthodox ones, and I was not 
prepared to view heaven as it really was. 

(c) "I was met by a vast concourse of relatives and friends, 
who took me to a most beautiful home. I would have been 
very happy in my new home if my parents had not been so 
grief-stricken and unhappy. I spent days and weeks trying to 
let them know I was still living and very near to them. And 
at last the vail was rent in twain, and now we are as one. 

(d) "I never held any feeling of revenge against the un- 

BV 23 



354 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



fortunate one who sent me thus prematurely into spirit life. 
He was not responsible for his deed and we are friends. 

(e) "T have traveled a great deal in spirit life, and I find 
spirits live as they did on earth. The Hollander does not 
change his odd dress or his quaint ways for something that 
would appear more modern to the Anglo-Saxon visitor. I have 
often seen the picturesque Swiss homes in spirit life. The In- 
dian villages are here just as on earth, and 




RED FEATHER, SALLTE W. ABER'S GUIDE. 



1017. "Red Feather (see 938, 1018) has even treated me to a 
ride on his pony, and I, in return, took him to a Chinese home. 
So I find that different nations have different ideas of what 
constitutes the beautiful in their spirit homes, the same as 
they had in earth life. Many spirits do not know of these 
things because they never took time to visit such places. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 355 

A Wilderness in the Spirit World. 

1018. "Once I went with my friend Red Feather to view 
a most magnificent bit of scenery. It was as uninhabited as 
any in the wilds of your world, and there I saw various ani- 
mals. At that time I did not know that animals exist in spirit 
life. This tract of land seemed to extend for miles all around 
us. Gema Watlcins." 

Seance No. 78. 

October 21, 1900. 

Professor William Denton, 

1020. This spirit, standing again in the condition of visi- 
bility before the circle, and with his usual animation, said: 

(a) "Friends, there seems to be a great feeling, on the 
part of some, as to converting the whole world. 

(b) "The first step in the right direction to that end is 
that the evangelist should himself be converted. Be sure, 
therefore, that before you go out to try to convert the world, 
you are soundly converted yourself. xVnd while you are get- 
ting yourself converted, do that, and let others take care of 
themselves. 

(c) "For generations past we have been trying to convert 
your world to this great truth, and have failed to reach any ex- 
cept the few whose minds are sufficiently illumined to grasp 
it. When the time comes that a great part of the people have 
minds sufficiently developed to grasp this great philosophy, 
then they will come to you hand over hand. 

(d) "Young converts generally are quite enthusiastic, and 
want to convert the world. If people were far enough unfold- 
ed to grasp' this great philosophy, we have brought facts upon 
facts, and evidence upon evidence, sufficient to have converted 
two whole worlds such as yours. So do not worry. Go right 
on and perfect your own spirituality, and let the other fellows 
do the worrying." 

Hitchcock. 

1021. This spirit gives his surname only, and we gather 
from his discourse that he was a preacher. But in good, clear, 
oral speech he gave us some of his experience as follows: 

(a) "My friends, this is very different from what I had 
expected to find. They asked me some time ago to call in here 
and give my experience, and I told them that as soon as I would 
become converted I would do so. And I feel that 1 am now 
on the converted list and in your midst. 

(b) "When I used to preach I converted several, as they 
say, to the faith of my preaching. I heard of this philosophy, 



356 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

but did not accept it. I supposed that it was accepted only by 
the narrow-minded, and felt that there would be no money for 
me in its advocacy. Sometimes I did think there was some- 
thing wrong with my system of religion. 

(c) "I sometimes very seriously doubted the whole affair, 
and in contemplation of the probability that all is terminated 
in the grave, I would soliloquize: 'Oh, the awful fate of maul 
A few fleeting hours of darkness and sunshine and sorrow, and 
I must go down into the ground and see no more of earth, hear 
no more of the voices of loved ones, but forever in one dark 
night of oblivion!' 

(d) "Then again I would think differently. And I would 
be all confused ; and I prayed, 1 prayed earnestly, I prayed early 
and late for light to see the way clear, but my prayers were 
all unanswered. 

(e) "And I came to this side of life and soon found that all 
my unpleasantness was because of my stupid ignorance. And 
I picked myself up and looked about me, and I saw people alive 
that I had known to be dead, and found myself alive, and I am 
now converted, and in here to let vou know that I am glad 
of it." 

Fanny Elssler. 

1022. There conies to the condition of visibility a spirit 
in the similitude of a woman, being clad in garments such as 
the lady forms generally appear in, whispers the name, and by 
her actions, gesticulations, and particular movements about 
over the carpet the circle recognize her as an actress, and 
Colonel Van Horn, from his newspaper experience, recognized 
the name, and had witnessed her playing on the stage. 

(a) We find there was a personage born in Vienna in 1811, 
who became a star upon the stage, bearing this name, who vis- 
ited the United States in her profession in 1842, and retired 
from the stage in 1851. 

(b) After this spirit had quite satisfactorily made her 
identity known, then in the most clear and distinct whispered 
utterance, accompanied by exceedingly appropriate and im- 
pressive gesticulation, she said: 

(c) "I am Fanny Elssler, and much of my earth life was 
in connection with the stage, and my delight was to play my 
part to the best advantage in the glare of the footlights. And 
the spirituality required in some of iny playing, to make it the 
most efficacious, led me to know something of this great light 
to which the eyes of your world are just beginning to open. 
While most of my compeers and stage companions were in total 
blindness to this glorious gospel of the spirit world, I lived a 
life somewhat in obedience to the demands of a spiritual nat- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 357 

ure and condition, so that as the sands of my mortal course 
were nearly run, I could contemplate with confidence a glori- 
ous termination of my earthly life into a happy reunion on the 
other side, with my 'loved ones gone before.' 

1023. "And, finally, as I drew near to dissolution, and 
just before the last spark of the earthly condition had gone 
out, and while I could yet recognize my earthly friends about 
my couch, the gates of the morning of my immortal journey 
suddenly opened wide to my spirit vision. I was in conscious 
sight of both worlds, my earthly friends in grief bidding me, 
as they thought, a long farewell; and before me innumerable 
hosts of bright, happy, joyous, glorious beings, singing songs 
of joy and gladness and welcome home to me, as I was passing 
from the physical to the spirit side of life, and I was able to 
whisper back to my lingering friends of earth that I could see 
beyond the gates the immortal hosts awaiting me. And I was 
caught up by loving arms on to the spirit side and borne away 
over beautiful scenes to a place of rest, sweet rest, glorious 
repose. 

1024. "In due season I was engaged in a delightful and 
pleasing work: waiting on my poor sisters of the footlights 
of the earthly stage, instilling their minds, when possible, with 
thoughts of spirituality, and waiting and watching for them 
approaching the shore and there meeting and welcoming and 
conducting them to their appropriate spheres, and out of lower 
to better conditions. What a delightful task I have! What a 
soul-elevating work! And I am rising, and others are rising 
with me, and thousands away back at the foot of the mountain, 
and many thousands of us away up the mountain-sides, the 
mount of graduated spirit conditions, and all joyfully and re- 
ciprocally work together, and we can look away ahead along 
the line of an unfolding eternity for us all. What joy is ours, 
unspeakable and illimitable! Goodnight, friends." And this 
beautiful specter faded away into the invisible condition. 

Atkinson. 

1025. One giving his name as "Atkinson" stood to view. 
and said: "Friends, there is nothing that can bring people to 
the light but the facts of this great truth. I have been hoe 
a long time, and nothing but this will bring the light. But, as 
doubtless you have already heard, spirits are found here, and 
numbers of them, who are very ignorant and in consequent 
darkness and just as stubborn as while on earth. And much 
of the labor of some spirits is to find and teach the Ignorant 
of spirit life as well as those of earth, and lead them into light." 



358 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



Brick Pomeroy. 

1026. Now comes a spirit who identifies himself as the 
above personage, and then speaking somewhat flatteringly, 
said: "Your proceedings here are very interesting to me. I 
am glad to be here, and'to see you engaged in this work, and 
hope you may continue, for your work here is for the good of 
your world to an extent that you may not realize while you 
remain in the physical, and only a little while, a very few years 
at most, and you, most of you, will be contemplating the work 
from this side; unless as in the olden time, we are told, the 
course of nature turns back." 




DAVID COOK. 

David Cook,. 



1027. David Cook's experience dictated to an amanuensis, 
Wesley, who, standing in visible form at the writing-desk, tab- 
let and pencil in hand, wrote for the spirit thus: 



HETOND THE VAIL. 359 

Revengeful Feelings Considered. 

(a) "I have been in spirit life a long time, and am only 
beginning to enjoy its beauties. When I passed out of the body 
I was filled with thoughts of revenge. For months and even 
years I watched for a chance to carry out my revengeful plans. 
I dogged the steps of my enemy day and night, but at last a 
kind soul, who persisted in trying to dissuade me from my 
plans, succeeded in showing me that it would be very wrong 
to do as I had designed to do. 

(I) "Since then I have become interested in the beauties 
of the spirit world. 1 cannot tell you how much these seances 
have been to me. I have not only had the pleasure of meeting 
my loved ones who are in the body, but I have found pleasure 
in helping others to reach their friends. These seances have 
given light to many in the spirit world. 

(c) "It is now my greatest pleasure to show others who 
come to spirit life as I did, that there are many things sweeter 
than revenge. I cannot say too much in praise of spirits from 
the higher spheres who endeavor to raise spirits who are on 
a lower plane and get them to realize that thoughts of revenge 
are more harmful to themselves than to anyone else, 

(d) "I am now in a beautiful home and do not long to be 
back on earth as I once did. I am glad that my wife and daugh- 
ter know so much of this truth. It will be of great benefit to 
them when they enter spirit life. David Cook." 

(e) This David Cook got into an altercation with a tenant, 
who shot him, inflicting a fatal wound, which occurred about 
1869, thirty-one years ago. 

Eagle Wing. 

1028. This Indian may have beer a medicine-man. swift 
on foot and gifted in eloquence, but the office of this Indian's 
belonging to this band of spirits is to furnish magnetic ele- 
ments for form-construction. 

Ellis Young. (See Seance 72.) 

1029. This spirit appeared in Seance 72, and there gave 
an experience that seemed as though he were a preacher while 
in the mortal. He gave no name, but his speech is so pecu- 
liar that so soon as he began to talk this time, the secre- 
tary recognized the identity as the same in both instances and 
remarked: "Well, sir, you' are the gentleman who spake to us 
the other evening and failed to give your name.'' 

Spirit: "Is that so? Well, my name is Ellis Young. ! 



360 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



gave my experience the other evening; I guess you don't care 
to have me give it again?" 




EAGLE WING. 



(1028.) 



Secretary: "No, sir, but you have other experience that 
may be of interest to someone undoubtedly, and we w r ould be 
much pleased to have some such if it suit your convenience." 

Spirit: "Oh, yes, sir. I am having experience all the time, 
and some of it somewhat amusing. 

1030. "As I was coming over here the other evening, I 
met a fellow and he says: 'Hello, Ellis! w r hich way are you 
going?' I says: 'Over here to meeting. We've got a revival 
going on over there. Would you like to go along?' 

(a) "He says: 'What kind of meeting is it? Methodist, 
Baptist, Presbyterian, or some of those?' And I says: 'Oh, 
no. Not at all. Something that beats those old revivals all 
hollow.' 

(6) "And he says: 'What can it be then? Not the Iron- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 3(3 1 

sides or Campbellites, surely?' And I says: 'No, no. Nothing 
of that sort. It's a spiritual meeting, called a seance.' 

(c) "And he says: 'A seance! Why, what kind of meet- 
ing is that? I never heard of such a thing before.' And I says: 
'That is a kind of meeting where spirits like you and I can go 
and meet people who have not died, but are yet on earth.' 

(d) kk And he says: 'They ain't trying that nonsense, arc 
they?' And I says: 'Oh, yes. They are having a great time 
down there — spirits and mortals talking to one another.' 

1031. "And he says: 'Hugh! the fools not all dead yet, 
eh?' And I says: 'That was my opinion when I saw you com- 
ing. And how came you here, and where are you going?' 

(a) "And he says: 'I was going over here to see a Mr. 
Young, but no relation of yours.' And I says: Why is it all 
dark around 3011?' 

(b) "And he says: 'Because it is all cloudy.' And I says: 
'It is all clear, no clouds that I can see, but it is dark just 
around you. 7 

(c) "He says: 'What kind of folks are they down there 
where you go?' I says: 'They seem to be very clever people.' 

(d) "He says: 'It seems to me they must be queer peo- 
ple. They surely wear horns, don't they?' I says: 'Well, sir, 
I should think the fools ain't all dead yet, and the worst of it 
is, they don't seem to be dead after they do die, and our folks 
down at the seance not only don't "wear horns," but they are 
really nice people, though I sometimes do meet a queer fellow 
when I am going over there, and it makes me feel bad to see 
you in that darkness about you. But when you get out of it 
a little, T '11 take you down to my meeting, where you can light 
up a little and find out who the real fools are.' ' 

Seance No. Ik. 

October 25. 1900. 

1032. The various explanations of Spiritualism considered: 
1. General humbug. 2. Fools not all dead yet. 3. The church 
cries out, "Devil!" 4. Then science comes to the rescue, and 
proclaims the Buffalo M.D.'s toe-joint snapping. 5. Od-force. 
6. Detached vitalized electricity. 7. Detached vitalized electro- 
magnetism. 8. Hallucination. 9. Subconscious self. 10. Sub- 
liminal self. 11. Prestidigitation. 12. Theosophy. 13. Chris- 
tian Science subliminates everything out of existence and 
leaves it all as "God" is said to have found it near seven thou- 
sand years ago. 

Birth of Hypnotism. 

1033. Then the spirit of Dr. ftfesmer comes forth, saying: 
"I was murdered in France, and the .M.D.'s had me materialize 
under the name 'Hypnotism,' and lay aside my cradle name of 



362 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

'Mesmerism/ for they said: 'Mesmerism is foolishness (to the 
people), but under hypnotism as a scientific nom de plume you 
will become renowned the world over as the most expert eluci- 
dator of every phase of psychic phenomena, though before you 
were s^ughtered by those savants you were an arrant hum- 
bug. As a mesmerist you are a malpracticing physician, but 
as a hypnotist you can heal the whole earth.' I guess, after 
all, if you had a bed of roses in your yard, and these M.D.'s 
would tell you that the bed of roses is not a bed of roses, but 
a bed of rotten carrion, would it raise the buzzards right away? 
What dupes 'we mortals are'!" 

But, dear reader, our artist has tried his hand on the pict- 
ure of a bunch of detached vitalized, electro-magnetic, sub- 
liminal, subconscious, hypnotic self toe-joint snaps, in a con- 
dition of imaginary visible reincarnation, preaching a discourse 
on the sublime thought of everything, including disease and 
Spiritualism, as nothing but the imagination of an imaginary 
being, having nothing but imagination with which to imagine. 

Van Horn's Test. (See page 263.) 

1034. A detached bunch of hypnotism materialized. The 
production of this picture was on this wise: Friend R. T. Van 
Horn having found a box of various-colored crayons which it 
might easily be imagined some medium-crusher had extracted 
from the north end of the rainbow or from Joseph's coat, for test 
purposes, and quietly put that box of crayons into his pocket 
and came down to a seance with those moon-eyed people at 
Spring Hill and secretly put those crayons on the artist's table 
just at seance time, and quietly took his seat in the circle, wait- 
ing to see whether any "subconscious self" would be imaged 
in rainbow colors on paper. 

Well, well, dear reader, immediately a "subliminal self, ,r 
that we designate an Italian spirit artist, took position in vis- 
ible form at our writing-table and took from the box of sketch 
paper one sheet of the paper and showed the same to each of 
the subconscious persons of the circle, who subconsciously 
pronounced the paper subliminal!? clean, and the spirit, or the 
detached vitalized electro-magnetism of the circle, in material- 
ized form, worked at the desk (or perhaps the desk was a mere 
bunch of materialized imagination); but, anyway, the form 
manipulated those rainbow colors about over that paper and 
left an image, drawn in many colors, on that paper, and the 
image on the opposite page is a photographic half-tone copy of 
the one on the paper as aforesaid. And now our friend R. T. 
Van Horn concludes that the "hypnotic," "subconscious self,"" 
and "detached vitalized electricity," and all their kindred are 
nothing more nor less than the obsessing spirit of an ani- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



363 











V 



X 



,-v 



MR. R. T. VAN HORN'S TEST. 



364 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

mal known in natural history as the chameleon. "For," he 
says, "I caught the animal last night, and viewed him o'er by 
candlelight. Sir, you may stare, but I 've got him yet, and can 
produce him." And our friend further concludes that "the 
fraud-hunter is about as apt to overdraw on his imagination 
as is the Spiritualist." 

Dr. J. B. Lamb.. 

1035. This spirit, in further refutation of the various 
''subliminal" explanations of Spiritualism, became manifest 
before the circle; and, standing at the writing-desk in the vis- 
ible condition, began writing; and, while writing, he said: 

1036. "Friends, I am trying to write again, and this may 
be my last effort for this book, and I hope that what I do write 
may be of interest to you and to your world. We are trying 
to inform your world of the actual conditions that exist in 
spirit life as we find from observation and personal or dictated 
personal experiences of facts." 

1037. And the writing kept on until the spirit had written 
upon seven pages of the tablet paper, and had torn the leaves 
upon which was the writing from the tablet. The spirit wrote 
at the rate of about 200 words per minute, as follows: 

(a) "So many interesting experiences have been given you 
for your work that, while T have found much in the spirit world 
to interest me, I scarce know what to tell you that will be of 
equal interest to you. 

(b) "A great part of my earth life was spent in reform 
work of different kinds, and my interest in that regard has not 
abated since passing into spirit life. 

(c) "Many progressive spirits have banded together to 
he better able to aid their brothers on the earth plane. We 
are interested in all movements that have a tendency to better 
humanity. We are striving to usher in the day when all men 
shall be equal, may be each a king in his own right and strike 
the manacles from hand and foot and brain. The day draws 
nigh when all disputes will be settled by arbitration. 

id) "Too long have the cries of the unfortunate ascended 
to the spirit world. The daily papers of your earth are teem- 
ing with stories of suicide, stories of murder, debauchery, and 
degradation, all caused by man's injustice to man. 

(e) "We have held council after council, endeavoring to 
find a way to raise the toilers of earth above penury and want. 
And the light of hope that gleams and glistens from afar, bid- 
ding the weary earth wanderer cheer up, is only the beacon 
light of the vast hosts beyond the earth plane, who are toil- 
ing day after day for the fulfillment of a glorious promise. 
None can recognize so well as we how difficult it is for a man 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 365 

to cultivate spirituality when hunger is gnawing at his vitals. 
Man must meet his physical needs first. His spiritual needs 
are only secondary with him. If he could only realize that the 
longest earth life is as nothing compared to eternity, he could 
then bear his misfortunes with more fortitude. 

(/) "I wish you could see the entrance into spirit life of 
those who have always striven to do their best in all things. 
How eyes light up when they gaze upon the beauties that sur- 
round them in their spirit home. Women who have known no 
brightness on earth, suddenly taken from their lonely abodes, 
awake to find themselves surrounded by beautiful flowers, beau- 
tiful pictures, and all that can make one glad. 

(g) "I say, if you must have prisons upon earth, fill them 
with beautiful flowers and lovely pictures. Give the prisoners 
wholesome books to read, let them feel that the great heart 
of humanity is throbbing for them, and, above all, when they 
go out into the world, do not turn from them as if the prison 
brand were seared upon their brows. Don't do this, but put 
out a helping hand and say: 'I trust you, and long to see you 
honored among men.' If you will do this, the prisons will soon 
be things of the past, and crimes will be unknown. But so 
long as you hold yourself aloof and say, 'I am better than thou,' 
so long will crime and misery stalk abroad in your land. Many 
take as their motto, 'The Fatherhood of God and the brother- 
hood of man,' and yet, even on the Sabbath day, they hold them- 
selves above and look askance, for fear the rags of the beggar 
may brush against their 'purple and fine linen.' 

"J. B. Lamb." 

Ellis Young. 

1038. This spirit, for a mere bunch of abstract imagina- 
tion, looked and walked about the room in good substantial 
manner, and did quite well at vocalizing, and seemed to act 
very much like a common white man, as he uttered the follow- 
ing little discourse: 

(a) "Your world has been filled with grief and pain, and 
the Christian religion has been a cause from which much of it. 
came, and Christianity one of the great curses to your country. 
And do you know that people ought to be ashamed of their 
narrow-mindedness in regard to their religion, and of such prej- 
udice as causes them to refuse to investigate whether or not 
this great light be true? And that they allow only one event 
in their lives to place them in a position to seriously desire to 
know of this matter, and that event is the closing up of the 
earth life. They then begin to pray to know something of the 
beyond, and when on this side they learn that their religious 
teaching on earth has hardly opened up to them one single 
true conception of the spirit world. 



366 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(b) "Oh, friends, when I see these ignorant conditions as 
they constantly come to spirit life out of Christianity, I have 
only feelings of disgust for a system of religion that takes the 
child with its plastic mind and fastens upon its very being 
absolutely false and darkening conceptions of the life in spirit 
to such an extent as to require years of existence in that life 
to recover from the darkness occasioned by the false teach- 
ing. What else could I have but absolute disgust for a system 
that plants darkness in the tender, youthful souls, to be borne 
with them to the country beyond the tomb?" 

1039. The secretary may be excused for narrating more 
fully some facts and thoughts that the reader would do well 
to bear in mind, and especially the fact that every one of these 
seances is a test seance. The tests are of the spirits' choosing, 
and one of the test conditions exacted by them is that the 
medium must never have any white clothing about his person 
during a seance, nor any white cloth of any kind about him, 
nor about the cabinet, inside or outside of it. 

1040. Another fact the reader should remember, and that 
is that persons at a distance who desire to know of the truth 
or falsity of this matter of spiritual phenomena make journeys 
of 500 miles to 2,000 miles on purpose to determine for them- 
selves about it. These people while here make their home with 
the same family where the medium makes his home, and in the 
house where these seances are held. They have free access to 
everything outside and inside the house and all about the prem- 
ises. They remain here days, weeks, months, as their financial 
conditions allow, and go away thoroughly satisfied that man- 
kind leap the boundaries of the mouldering tomb in conscious 
individuality, and that the phenomena here are not fraudulent. 
Now some of these visitors, after having tarried here for weeks 
and become absolutely satisfied of the integrity of the phe- 
nomena and all connected therewith, are permitted to behold 
this wonderful test, to- wit: 

1041. When the seance is in session, medium in cabinet, 
light sufficient to discern all persons and common objects in 
the room, and the pianist playing a w T altz, suddenly there 
comes out of the cabinet a personage of the appearance of a 
woman clothed upon with garments exceedingly white, and in 
the most expert Terpischorean manner of motions and eti- 
quette moves about over the carpet in the space between the 
circle and cabinet, all motions and movements of the spirit be- 
ing in perfect accord and response to requirements of the music. 
The circle and visitors all know that this dancing figure is not 
one of the circle, nor is it a confederate, in the mortal, of the 
medium or of any one of the circle. But this dancing spirit 
returns into the cabinet, and in answer to an encore, reappears 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 367 

in the room, courtesying to various persons of the circle; then 
leading out, first dancing en modesie, but gradually, more and 
more boldly, down to an extravagant Spanish fandango, and- 
back to modeste, and suddenly passes to the invisible condition. 
And this Spanish spirit maiden dancing is followed by an exhi- 
bition of making spirit pongee goods, and how the cloth is ap- 
plied so as to make spirit clothing (1273), and on this wise, 
to-wit: 

1042. A form, some six or eight inches taller than the 
dancing maiden, having the similitude of a moderately tall lady, 
clothed upon in garments white and glistening, comes forth 
from the cabinet door, some three feet towards the circle, and 
also courtesying to the circle. There, extending both arms 
from the sides to horizontal position from the shoulders, hav- 
ing the head and eyes in the attitude of gazing obliquely to-' 
ward the ceiling, then takes hands and arms down slowly, and 
slowly puts the head in position of gazing at the carpet just a 
little in front. Then stoops down, and so bending the limbs as to 
move the hands about over and nearly touching the carpet, con- 
tinuing this attitude, shortly the whole circle simultaneously ex- 
claim: "Look at that bunch of cloth growing under those hands! 
See? There now! Looks nearly bulky enough for a dress pattern 

"or bed-spread." Now the spirit rises, hands out diagonally in 
front, holding the pongee as by the corners of a table-cloth, 
the hands spreading apart as the spirit rises. Now the spirit 
has fully risen, hands and arms horizontal from shoulders, hold- 
ing the two upper corners of the cloth spread out from finger 
tips to finger tips, reaching to the carpet, holds a moment, folds 
the cloth, hangs over left arm extended, and thus doubled over 
the arm reaches nearly to the floor. Then spreads this "pon- 
gee" all round herself and stands thus completely enrobed from 
chin to carpet. The circle exclaim: '"What a glorious white 
robe! Now we know the meaning of 'white-robed spirits.'' 1 

Robing a Member of the Circle. 

1043. At the request of the spirit, a member of the circle 
arose and stood near by the spirit. Then the spirit took the 
robe from herself and placed it around the lady of the circle 
that was standing by and fitted the "pongee" about the lady. 
until the lady and spirit both looked alike, as being dress. <1 
in glistening white garments, fringed all about by daintiest 
white lace. The spirit, however, was taller than the lady of 
the circle who wore this spirit pongee white robe. Now the 
spirit and the lady both face and courtesy to the circle; then 
the spirit removesthe robe from the lady, again hangs it upon 
the left arm, then spreads it out, having hold of the upper 



368 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

corners with both hands, stoops again till the hands reach the 
iloor, and as going down the pongee seems to be gradually ab- 
sorbed by the carpet until all is again invisible, the spirit rises, 
vanishes, and the lady stands alone, dressed in her own gar- 
ments of dark-colored cloth. (1273.) 

1044. The first example of clear, feminine vocal music by 
a visible spirit lady form. As the lady who had just worn the 
white robe of spirit cloth took her seat, the pianist could think 
of nothing more appropriate than "Nearer, My God, to Thee," 
and as she began to play and the circle to join in the song, 
there came forth from the cabinet another white-robed spirit 
form, rather low of stature, which the circle at once recognized 
as Mother Pratt. (See "Rending the Vail," paragraph 36.V 
As the chorus was reached, this spirit, standing over near to 
her son Howard, joined in the singing so as to be clearly heard 
by all the circle, though all who could sing were singing. 

1045. But Brother Pratt, an old man and an almost help- 
less invalid, having his dear old mother come back to this side 
the grave and sing to "my son Howard" just before his birth 
into spirit world as tenderly as just after his birth into this 
world, nearly eighty years ago, filled his soul so full of retro- 
spection and knowledge of future fruition that he could only 
exclaim: "Oh, mother, I am coming!" and the music ceased, 
and the spirit was gone. The circle held a triumphant Quaker 
meeting for a few moments, silently thinking that this one 
seance furnishes a complete refutation of every theory yet ad- 
vanced adversely to the psychic claims of these phenomena,, 
and then concluded. 

Seance No. 75. 

October 28, 1900. 
Professor Denton. 

1046. After the usual preliminaries, Professor Denton de- 
livered a discourse in his happiest manner, saying: "My friends,, 
it is a great pleasure for me to come here and try to give you 
something that may be beneficial to people of your world. It 
has been suggested that perhaps we are getting short of mat 
ter to present you, but I can assure you that we are not at all 
exhausted, and that we could give you matter for years yet, 
but we wish to give that which, from our standpoint, will prove 
the most beneficial to you and to the people of earth; and, as 
we have said, we endeavor to choose from the vast amount pre- 
sented to us that which we deem to be of most lasting va'ue 
to you. 

The Oolivionist. 

1047. "Among the many cases presented to me in my travels 
is this one: I met one who gave to me his experience of both the 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 359 

earth and spirit life. He said that while on earth he often pon- 
dered over the question of the destiny of man, and that it always 
summed up in oblivion after death. And he thought if there be 
future life, God had made a great mistake in not making the 
fact manifest to man. But so dismal to him was the contem- 
plation of the future that when he came to die, his feelings 
were of awful horror. He begged, he implored the friends who 
stood about his dying couch to keep him a little longer, to do 
something to prolong his life. But all to no purpose. The call 
was made and he must go down to the grave and be no more! 
What horrible thoughts, what awful feelings! 

1048. "Thus did that man die. I say 'die' because it is the 
word used to express the condition of closing up the physical 
life. And it was some time before this one began to realize 
himself as alive, though the old body was gone. But, meeting 
his old-time friends, he at last learned of his true situation and 
how much benefit to him it would have been had he known of 
life beyond. He would have lived a different life on earth, and 
had a different death to die, and would have found greatly more 
favorable and pleasant conditions over here. 

1049. "Oh, friends, think for a moment of what a great 
benefit it is to knoiv, before you leave the body, that when the 
body is dissolved away and gone, the spirit still lives on in con- 
scious being. No one who knows of this great truth should be 
afraid to die; for in reality to one who is prepared for the 
change it is glorious. A glorious thing to foreknow that death 
is the end of the troublous conditions of earth, and the begin- 
ning of better conditions and of a happier life. 

(a) "I have encountered mauy such experiences and could 
relate them, but the one case is sufficient for our purpose at 
this time. 

1050. "As I have stated, I wish to state again that I hope 
for the time when I can stand in materialized form before large 
audiences of even so much as 5,000 people and address them 
as I address this small audience this evening. And the time, 
I trust, is not far distant when I can do so. And yet more, I 
expect to realize such a grand consummation while this medium 
remains in the physical life. 

1051. "And now again, friends, someone is scared of the 
darkness, and queries: 'Why not do all these things in the 
broad daylight?' As often as we have answered this question, 
it seems necessary once more to make some answer. It is true 
that the querist but betrays his ignorance of both physical and 
spiritual law — not only his ignorance, but the stubborn stupid- 
ity with which he shuts his eyes to glaring facts all about him, 
in both the laws of generation of all things and the laws of 
mechanical process. And any person who has even ordinary 

RV ?\r 



370 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

power of observation must see and know that all generation, 
whether of man or beast or plant, is in a condition of darkness, 
and any person who has a spark of healthy reason must know 
that, under natural law, in order to production of life form, a 
condition of darkness must be observed in generative gestation 
throughout all the realms of organic life." 

1052. [By way of parenthesis we might assist the spirit in 
the above discussion by asking the questioner on account of 
darkness why, if the God Mature or the orthodox God gener- 
ates all life forms under condition of darkness, why, sir, do 
you ask that a finite spirit shall produce a life manifesting form 
without the assistance of darkness at all? Why don't you say, 
'Sir, Mr. God or Mr. Nature, I won't believe that you make corn 
at all unless you allow me to place a kernel of corn on top of 
a dry stump and have it exposed to bright light all the time, 
and it do sprout and come forth a stalk of corn right on that 
stump while I am looking at it. No, sir, Mr. God, if you can't 
grow corn on that stump all the time in the bright sunlight, 
and never for one moment out of my sight — if you can't do it 
that way, Mr. God, and must have it planted in the dark ground, 
there is no God or even Nature about it; only the devil does 
business in the darkness. — Ed.'] 

1053. But the spirit goes on with his speech: 

(a) "After witnessing all that transpires in these seances, 
no person can any more dispute the genuineness of the phe- 
nomena here, as claimed, than he can dispute the necessity and 
fact of human generation in the darkness before exhibition in 
the light. In fact, it seems that your earth has had enough 
proof to satisfy any honest mind of the fact of demonstrable 
future life. 

1054. "Corollary to this then it must be admitted that 
there are more scientific minds on the spirit side than on earth 
— not only more of them, but they must be more scientific than 
the scientists of earth, and this mode of demonstration must 
be not only scientific, but according to highest attainable sci- 
entific methods of advanced minds in that future life. 

1055. "These scientific spirits have been endeavoring for 
ages to demonstrate this eternal truth to mortals, but hereto- 
fore have found your world so steeped in the orthodox God 
idea that their efforts have been repulsed, and many yet are 
so bound by the orthodox interpretation of things that they 
dare not accept anything adverse to their religious tenets. 
And as these superstitions be removed from your world, the 
light of eternal truth must liberate the enchained souls of 
earth, for the greatest minds being now on this side are giving 
back to your earth the great facts which ages of inquiry have 
revealed to them. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 371 

1056. "The scientific minds of your earth think it a great 
consummation for them to be hunting after planetary condi- 
tions, but they waste their lives away in that field to but lit- 
tle purpose. Whilst they might be of great and lasting benefit 
if they would lend their energies in behalf of Spiritualism, the 
one only philosophy susceptible of complete and absolutely sat- 
isfactory demonstration to mortal man. 

1057. "Now one word more for this evening: If you learn 
and follow our way of doing things, it might be of great service 
to you. If we see an earnest soul seeking for truth, for light, 
for help out of ignorance and darkness, we do our utmost to 
convince that one of the truth, the right. But where one comes 
to us in disguise, in hypocrisy, in self-complacency, we leave 
him alone in his self-glorification and seek more prolific soil 
to work. And this is jnst what I would advise you friends to 
do. And so doing you will have gathered in a greater harvest 
at last." 

1057J. Then the artist made a portrait which was recog- 
nized at the next seance as Mrs. E. S. Edwards. (1068.) 

O'Connor. 

1058. A spirit in good Irish brogue said: "Frinds, Oi 'm 
glad to mate ye people here and tell ye uv a bit uv me 
experience. 

(a) "From what Oi had heard about it, I thot I wuz shure 
of purgatory. Oi had been reared in the society and doctrines 
of the Catholic Church, but had not met the requirements, and 
shure Oi thot Oi moight as well make up me mind for purga- 
tory and rist as aisy as possible. But the praste got afther me 
and told me that under certain conditions Oi moight receive 
absolution. One uv the conditions wuz that Oi should jine the 
Catholic Church under its ceremonials; and the other condition 
you can guess. 

1059. "Then, if Oi would do all that, this praste had power 
to intercede in me behalf, and that he would do so and relieve 
me of all me sins, and give me a pass to the Savior Jazus Christ, 
at the roight hand uv God on high. So Oi jined the Catholic 
Church under her ceremonials, and came down with all the 
requisites to the utmost of me ability, and had me sins par- 
doned, and sailed on free and aisy, kaping me confessions all 
up and continual forgiveness of sins. And at last Oi had to die 
and lave enough to pay mesilf out uv purgatory and land me 
into paradise. 

1060. "But after awhile Oi did awake to find no purgatory 
as taught, nor paradise, nor heaven. But Oi did find something 
that might answer for purgatory, out of which Oi had to work 



372 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

mesilf. And Oi found that the whole church and praste business 
wuz a studendous — well, no, not lie; Oi won't say that — but the 
mildest Oi can put it is that the whole thing wuz a stupendous 
fraud in all its parts, and that this Spiritualism is truth, is 
grand and glorious truth, and one gets out uv and past all hells 
and purgatories by lifting himsilf out, having the assistance 
uv good spirits. Me name is O'Connor." 

1061. Then followed a great display of the materializa- 
tions of women forms, equivalent to any hereinbefore described. 
And while the circle were in ecstasies over the display, Thomas 
Paine stood to view and exclaimed aloud, "The world still 
moves, friends," and vanished. 

Mother Pratt. 

1062. Immediately the form we recognize as "Mother" 
Pratt walked out of the cabinet, across the carpet to the feet 
of Mr. Pratt, saying: 

(a) "My dear son Howard, I am so glad to be able to see 
you in this way so often, because you realize my preseuce. But 
at times when you do not see me and you think you are alone, 
I am in reality as near to you as I am now. So, dear son, be 
assured that you are never any more alone than now. For 
some of us are always near you and shall ever be until we 
receive you to ourselves on this side of life. 

1063. "And now to you, friends all, let me say that this 
spirit return is more glorious than you can realize. And for 
it we all ought ever to be thankful. Thankful for its light, 
thankful that it drives away the darkness of the tomb, thank- 
ful for the cheery revelations it makes to those who will re- 
ceive of the glorious conditions for children of earth, by and 
by, in the future life; and oh, how thankful you ought to be, 
and we all are, that to you, as despised of earth, have been 
opened up revelations, such as to very few if any other mortals 
that ever lived, of the grandeur of the beautiful homes await- 
ing you all over here!" 

Seance No. 76. 

November 1, 1900. 

Professor William Denton, 

1064. Speaking in regard to the educational training of 
children, said: 

Educational Training of Children. 

(a) "Again, my friends, we meet so like to the olden time. 
Those of you who have reared your children to manhood and 
womanhood may not be benefited by my remarks at this time, 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 373 

l>ut to those having charge of the training of young children I 
would suggest as 

1065. "Rule 1: Never try to force a child to study that 
which seems obnoxious to it, that for which it seems to have 
no desire, but encourage the little one along the lines of its 
natural tastes. Note that if you try to force the child to the 
pursuit of what is distasteful to it, you find that you make 
headway very slowly, and that for the most part you create a 
disgust for that branch of learning from which it may never 
recover; and, more, you have lost time with it in those pursuits 
that it did desire. Not only that, but if you persist in the forc- 
ing to uncongenial pursuits, you may so disgust the little one 
as to have it lose interest in the study of anything. But that, 
if encouraged in its own preferences, by and by the pupil will 
of its own accord desire a knowledge of what had appeared 
disgusting. 

1066. "Rule 2: Lessons concerning occult causes of man- 
ifest phenomena should be presented experimentally from the 
beginning, but accordingly as the pupil may be advanced in 
ability to comprehend, for the true and most efficacious method 
of educating is from the personal experiences of the pupil. May 
we not, then, lay down as a corollary here and as a basic aphor- 
ism, 'Not the school, but experience and spiritual forces make 
the education'? The child, therefore, should have continual ex- 
perimental presentation of physical and psychic forces, and the 
fact that there is always some intelligent psychic personality 
near by, as a guardian friend, should be as early learned as 
possible. And the old mythical nursery tales of devils, mon- 
strosities, hobgoblins, and wrathful, jealous, avenging gods 
should never more be allowed to poison the tender mind of a 
child; hence we have 

1067. "Rule 3: Always tell the little ones the truth, that 
which you know to be true. Children should be taught facts con- 
cerning the other life and how they can shape conditions while 
on earth to their great advantage in future life. But someone 
may say: 'How shall I teach of future life, unless I myself do 
know of it?' Thou fool! the gateway of the spirit world is wide 
open, and thy 'loved ones gone before' stand therein, calling: 
'Come thou, and behold our glory and that of myriads more 
with us. Then do thou go and teach what thou shaft know, and 
then feed thy tender lambs upon living, nourishing, eternal 
truth, instead of the dry husks of exploded mythological fables. 

"Friends, if you could see the children as T see them over 
here! How happy they are! No fear of any great monstrosity 
troubles their innocent souls; nothing but sunshine and pure 
childish glee. After awhile, perhaps, people will realize this 
:and teach the little ones on earth accordingly. Tf your world 



374 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



should ever advance so far, then there will be no use for prisons- 
nor courts of justice." (See mode of teaching in the spirit 
world, R. V., 2184-2186.) 




MRS.E. S.EDWARDS. 



Mrs. E. S. Edwards. (1057.) 

1068. We may be excused another parenthesis. At the 
last seance the artist made in his unique w*ay a portrait of some 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 375 

lady form not then recognized, but on reviewing that portrait 
at this seance, all of the circle who had ever known her in the 
mortal ejaculated: 

Recognizing the Portraits. 

(a) "That picture is surely intended for Mrs. Edwards. It 
is just like her. Don't it beat everything that none of us could 
recognize that picture at last seance?" And as soon as Denton 
had finished his oration at this seance, there came forth a spirit 
that was instantly recognized by the circle as Mrs. Edwards. 
"How much alike she and the picture do look!" Then the spirit 
finds its tongue, saying: 

(b) "Yes, friends, that is my picture, and as much like my- 
self as from memory I could mould my form to be, and the 
artist made the likeness of my form as Dr. Reed and I together 
had it made up." (See R. V., 1231, 2449.) 

1069. Anyone, however, who finds it difficult to recognize 
a given spirit portrait and feels a spirit of skeptical criticism 
coming on might do well to consider some of the difficulties 
in the way. 

(a) One may not himself remember just how the spirit did 
appear when last seen in the mortal. 

(b) Different styles of clothing, of wearing the hair, and 
different positions of the subject represented — all these must 
make more or less difference in appearances of pictures accord- 
ingly, as taken under varying conditions of attitude, dress, and 
style of hair dress, at different times of making the picture. 

ic) Even photographs of a person taken respectively at the 
the ages of twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, and sixty years all differ r 
and some of them so widely differ that the most intimate frientl 
would scareeely recognize the photographs as being of the same 
person. 

(d) Suppose you live in a given neighborhood ten years; 
you now are well acquainted with one hundred of your neigh- 
bors. Some of them are ten, some twenty, some thirty and 
some thirty-five years of age. Now you leave that neighbor- 
hood and you are gone forty years, and from time to I inie photo- 
graphs of these people are taken during all that forty years. 
The ten-year-old is now fifty, the thirty live is now seventy-five, 
and so on, and now nearly all of those one hundred people have 
passed to spirit life, and you are presented with an album of 
all those photographs — say of eighty of the one hundred people 
— how many of the photographs could you identify? No1 many 
of them; certainly not more than 25 per cent, perhaps not 10 
per cent. But, before seeing the album, one of those old neigh- 
bors who came with you and is yet your neighbor attends our 
seances, and all these eighty spirits pose for our artist, and the 



376 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

artist sketches them all, and your friend readily recognizes 50 
per cent of them. And he has you look at these made by the 
spirit artist before you see the album of photographs, and you 
are so disgusted that you puff out: "Begone with the humbug. 
They don't look one bit like anybody that ever I saw. Why, 
Jack, I thought you had too much sense to fool like that with 
such nonsense." 

(e) Now your friend Jack shows you the photograph album, 
but he does not let you know what photographs they are. You 
don't know them either. He tells you that you ought to know 
them all, for they are of those old-time friends. One of them 
is of your own brother whom you last saw at fifteen, and the 
photograph taken at fifty. You ought surely to know the picture 
of your own brother. You say: "Oh, but I have not seen him 
since at fifteen, then a round-faced, chubby boy, but he has 
grown old and emaciated, poor, scrawny, dying of dyspepsia. 
You would not be so foolish as to expect me to know him now 
if I met him in the road, much less his picture, would you?" 

(/} He now gets even with you, saying: "That's just how 
foolish you were a bit ago when the shoe was on my foot. But 
look here at my picture of your brother, and compare it with 
your album picture. See?" "Yes, I see they look much alike, 
but that 'cuts no ice.' That is only an accidental coincidence. 
My brother is dead, and not fooling about like a ghost or wild 
demon. He 's at rest forever, or until Gabriel's trumpet calls 
to life the dead millions." 

(g) "Well, but, Jack, look here. Let 's see, let us compare 
these portraits and photographs. There, now, fifty of them much 
alike! How is that for coincidence?" "Well, it does look a lit- 
tle queer, but there 's no spirits about it. I tell you those folks 
are dead, to stay dead, anyway to Gabriel's calling. There is 
no telling what all tricksters may do. Hypnotism, electrical 
didoes, mind-reading, and a hundred different ways they could 
fool you with about those pictures, and all that spirit business. 
No, sir, I ain't soft enough to go down there just to see those 
tricks played." 

(h) Of all of the portraits made here of persons who, while 
in the physical, were known to persons attending the seance, 
75 per cent are fully recognized. This is a marvel in itself, 
when the foregoing case is considered, and more so when all 
the reasonable requisite conditions for making such pictures 
recognizable are considered. In the first place, in order to be 
recognized at all, the picture must image the spirit as the de- 
sired friend knew the person at some time while the spirit was 
in the mortal. Then the chemical control must find out some 
way how the spirit did look at that time in the mortal, and 
must clothe the spirit with a temporary body that resembles 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 377 

the mortal body as it was at the desired time, and the spirit 
artist must then make an image on paper of that temporary 
body, and all of this together far transcends all scientific and 
mechanical attainments of man as yet deyeloped in the mor- 
tal. What then? And the fraud-hunter hears the echo re- 
sounding from the everlasting hills the unanswerable syllogism 
of the spirit Professor Michael Faraday. (See K. V.. 2685-2688.) 

Lucretia Borgia. 

(See Enc. Brit., Vol. I., p. 431.) 

1070. This spirit appeared before this circle at the last 
public seance, in very brilliant make-up, announced the name, 
which was recognized by some of the circle, and the spirit im- 
mediately passed back to the invisible condition. And now she 
comes again, in yery bright appearance, announces her name, 
and finally some of the circle, who had known some of her earth 
life history, became satisfied of the identity and asked the spirit 
to favor us with some of her experience. Whereupon she re- 
turned into the cabinet at the southeast corner, and as she was 
entering at that corner, Wesley, the amanuensis, came out of 
the cabinet at the northwest corner, into the arena to the 
writing-table, took up a tablet, and, as he began writing, said: 

(a) "Friends, as you have requested of the lady some of 
Tier experience, I now make a 'handwriting' unto you, revealing 
some of my own experience as messenger for this band in this 
case, and giving you the experience of the lady as she dictated 
it to me in her own beautiful home in the spirit world." And 
this spirit continued the writing to five pages of the tablet, 
tore the leaves of the writing from the tablet, placed the writ 
ing and the tablet on the writing-desk, in sight of the circle, 
where it remained in view of the circle to the close of the seance. 
And the writing was then gathered up by one of the circle, in 
full lamplight, and immediately read to the circle, and then 
handed to the secretary in sight of the circle. And the follow 
ing is a full and true copy of that handwriting of the spirit 
Wesley : 

(b) "We brought Lucretia Borgia to the seance the other 
night in order that you might see how grossly she had been 
libeled. She has suffered, as many others have, for the sins of 
those who were too cowardly 1o bear their own burdens. Pro 
fessor Denton requested me to interview the lady and ask her, 
as a special favor to this band, to attend a seance. 

1071. "I found her in one of the grandest homes it has 
ever been my good fortune to visit in spirit life, surrounded 
with greater splendor than could have been hers upon earth. 
At first she felt reluctant to come. She told me thai she had 
suffered so on earth that she seldom cared to visit it. I <\ 



378 BETOND THE VAIL. 

plained to her how well pleased we would be to have her visit 
our little circle, and she finally consented to do so. She assured 
me, however, that her life on earth had been as commonplace 
as that of any woman's in her position. 

1072. "I then asked her to tell me of her transition. She 
looked around her, and laughingly said: 

(a) " 'Do not' think I came to this beautiful home direct 
from earth, for I did not. I can remember how surprised I was 
when I awoke in spirit life. My surroundings were so different 
from what I had been accustomed to upon earth that my first 
thought was that I had been abducted. I soon learned, how T - 
ever, that I was in my spirit home, and I was so disappointed 
that I sat down and cried. I had, like many others, made mis- 
takes upon earth; and now 1 must do my best to untangle them. 
I was happy indeed to know that I did not have to suffer for 
mistakes not my own, and soon found great pleasure in doings 
the duties assigned me. As I grew T better, my surroundings 
grew more beautiful, and my home is what you see now. 

1078. " 'I work among the spirits of low T er spheres and 
have succeeded in bringing many unfortunate ones out of their 
miserable conditions to a condition where they can help them- 
selves not only, but help others also.' 

(a) "She ceased talking and made ready to accompany me 
to the seance, and you who have seen her in the materialized 
form can say whether or not you think such a bright spirit can 
inhabit a dark sphere. 

(b) "A man or woman cannot fall so low that they cannot 
cleanse themselves in time." 

Thomas Paine. 

1074. Just before the circle w r as seated for seance, it was 
incidentally remarked by someone that a neighbor had recently 
asked the question: "But where is the morals of Spiritualism?" 

1075. And now Thomas Paine comes in visible form, speak- 
ing a word to that question, saying: "Friends, a doctrine that 
cannot prove future life is not one that you should spend a mo- 
ment with. Such doctrine as that is not worth your consider- 
ation at all. A doctrine that will teach little ones to lie and 
steal is basely immoral in its tendencies, and should be shut 
out from your homes. 

1076. "Have you ever had any spirits teach you that it is 
best to steal and lie? Did you ever have any spirits advise you 
that, under any conditions whatever, it is advisable to steal 
and lie? If we cannot give good, wholesome advice that would 
be good to both live and die by, we had better stay in the spirit 
world and never attempt to advise the children of earth." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 379 

1077. A spirit whom the circle did not identify and who 
gave no name came from the cabinet, being in visible form, hav- 
ing the similitude of a woman, rather tall, very neatly dressed 
in apparel that seemed like light yellow silk, and said: 

(a) "I have been an inhabitant of what you would call the 
spirit world for a considerable length of time, as you would 
count it, and I am able to say that spirits from what I under- 
stand as the higher spheres can and do return to earth when- 
ever they so desire; but they seldom desire to return except 
upon some mission for the good of earth's people. 

(h) "In our conditions we recognize fully the brotherhood 
of all; that each one is entitled to equal rights and privileges 
with every other one, and we are so far removed from selfish- 
ness that we feel it a great pleasure and our highest ambition 
to do unto others as we desire them to deal with us. 

1078. "And none can abide in our conditions until having 
attained perfect feeling of reciprocal liberty. Not that we are 
averse to his society, but he himself cannot abide and endure 
on our fare. He, in our sphere, is out of his natural condition, 
much as a fish above water is out of its natural element. 

(a) "To work out the so-called golden rule among the chil- 
dren of earth, we do work as best we can. Nevertheless we see 
that the golden harvest is a long way — even in the far-distant 
future, according to relative time standards of earth; but we 
do hope that a thousand years will not pass before such glori- 
ous consummation shall begin to be realized." 

1079. Another feature of this seance that would be of 
wonderful value to an eye-witness would perhaps, if in narra- 
tive form, be of interest and curiosity to an earnest student of 
psychic literature. We therefore make note of it, to-wit: 

(a) The trance control, Sam Schmidt, who seldom takes on 
the condition of visibility, but generally confines himself to the 
use of the medium's vocal organs, of which he says he is able to 
modify, and that he does modify, the larynx, so as to give forth 
the natural intonations of the voice of Sam. But now Sam 
appears before the circle in materialized form, moving about 
over the floor between the circle and the cabinet, engaging with 
the circle in colloquy, repartee, expressions of mirthfulness, in- 
termixed with philosophy, moral advice, test readings, etc. And 
finally, in the midst of a lively talk, suddenly vanished; and in- 
stantly, without apparent break in his conversation, Ik- had con- 
trol of the medium's vocal organs, in the cabinet, continuing 
the conversation. The dexterity of this feat was astonishing to 
the persons of this circle who have been intimate with the pin* 
nomena of these seances for more than a dozen years. To the 
question as to how he was able to do this. Sam said: "The 
medium was entranced all the while, and I had control of him 
and of mv own materialized form at the same lime" 



380 BEYOND TEE TAIL. 

Seance No. 77. 

November 4, 1900. 

1080. After the usual congratulations of the spirits Reed 
and Denton, Denton, referring to the fact of the presidential 
election to-day, continued a little farther, saying: 

(a) "It seems that discussions will never cease, even after 
a full explanation. But discussion along general lines brings 
out new ideas. We have discussions the same as you have, but 
we have no politics. Politics is the all-absorbing everything in 
your country. You are in great political commotion about your 
next president, and you are always in commotion about your 
next political something. Over here we are never troubled 
that way. We have no trouble about our next president or our 
next mayor. We have no trouble about Democrats, Republi- 
cans, Populists, or what-nots. 

1081. "We are all people of one brotherhood on this side. 
With us a Democrat, as well as a Republican or a Populist, is 
'a man for a' that.' We have no politics here." 

Edgar Taylor. 

1082. The circle does not know anything of this spirit, but 
he comes forth into the presence and sight and hearing of the 
circle, saying: 

(a) "I am Edgar Taylor. I am very glad to see you people 
here. And I am happy of the privilege of saying a few words 
to you, for this life in spirit is so very different from what I 
had expected to find it, and I realize, too, that such great num- 
bers of people come to this side having conceptions as I did, 
that it is a great pleasure to me to use my might in having 
more correct ideas among people of earth concerning the spirit 
world; so I am here. And many come over here so filled with 
their ideas held by them on earth that it is hard to convince 
them, even here, that they have erroneous notions. 

1083. "Just the other day I was telling some spirits about 
these seances here, how that spirits could here converse with 
people of earth, and one man told me that such talk as that 
and such an idea was all foolishness. I told him that I had 
been informed by good, reliable people that it is all a fact, and 
that by this means we can reach again our friends on earth. 
He still insisted that it was too foolish to pay any attention 
to. I told him that while 1 did not at first believe it possible, 
yet I did not presume but what T> might be mistaken; and, al- 
though like one you hear of who 'had to be shown,' I was not 
so foolish as to dispute the showing nor so absurdly stubborn 
as to refuse to go and see. I had been here, and when here I 
saw the same as you have seen — that is, that it is a most glori- 
ous truth. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 381 

(a) "Now I am here again, and this time permitted this 
interview, and 1 am glad of it, for I wanted to tell you how 
ignorant some people are over here, and how much energy is 
required to lead them out of ignorant conditions. 

1084. "I met one who was so ignorant that it was almost 
impossible to prevail on him to consider anything that would 
enlighten him. I told him that he would have to wake up from 
his ignorant habits, stir himself about and see what is all about 
him. I had him look at himself, and then at me, and at others r 
and surely he would be able to form some ideas of his true 
relations. And he began looking about him, and soon found 
himself beginning to grow a little. But it will be a long time 
before he finds any great degree of light. I must go now. I 
hope to be with you again." 



Miss Hunter 



1085. Following Edgar Taylor, gave this beautiful experi- 
ence, to-wit: 

(a) "When I reached the condition of spirit life and was 
fully awakened to a consciousness of my condition, and began 
to look around, I observed a little hill, a beautiful hill, it seemed 
to me, and a beautiful light shone from above the top. I was 
drawn or impelled toward that light and from the hill-top down 
the other side was a most beautiful and glorious descent to 
the foot of that little hill. And here ran a little musical brook. 
And over on the other side of the brook there was a beautifully 
wooded country which seemed as lovely as a freshly leafing 
maple grove. And on the green sward among the trees were 
many little children, happy, joyous, blithe, and gay. And in 
that beautiful grove was an edifice, a glorious school-building 
for those little ones. Along this little stream and all through 
this magnificent woodland grove were flowers, so beautiful! 
And one variety was most exquisitely delightful to look upon, 
and which I had never before seen, and they name that flower 
the lily of the brook. 

1086. "Well, my friends, the beautiful stream, the majes- 
tic woodland, the soft green sward, the magnificent school build- 
ing, and those throngs of innocent children, many little ones 
and also many larger ones, made a scene that might be envied 
by most lofty spirits, and one which I am unable to describe 
to the comprehension of you mortals. But when my soul had 
partaken of this most magnificent repast to its utmost delight 
I passed on to beyond. 

1087. "And up and over a beautiful rise T found upon the 
undulating landscape a little path, a byway, opening out into 
a glorious highway fringed by a grass so peculiar, so unique, 



382 BEYOND TEE VAIL. 

that I am again at a loss to describe. And the best I can now 
do is to say that this grass was of the appearance of golden 
shreds growing as grass and glittering in the bright light as 
it was waved into rolling billows by the gentle breezes passing 
over it. 

1088. "And near the summit of this ridge of gentle ascent 
and descent I met a carriage, and I was invited and got into 
that beautiful carriage. And it bore me away over these golden- 
shredded, undulating plains of the most gorgeous landscape 
scenery that I had ever seen, and I had been in spirit life a 
long time, toward a building coming to view in the dim dis- 
tance, and as I drew nearer, the building had the appearance 
of a crystal palatial residence, dazzling in the bright light, the 
sweet light of this fair country. (See R. V., 2069.) 

1089. "And this carriage bore me on to this magnificent 
home of splendor, and therein I found my father and mother, 
who, a long time before my transition, had gone over and into 
these delightful spheres. But not until you shall have had ex- 
perience toward the higher spheres will you be enabled to 
appreciate having a conveyance of envoys meet you and con- 
duct you in like manner to some beautiful home in the spheres 
inhabited by your loved ones long since gone before." 

1090. And now comes the artist and makes a beautiful 
portrait of an Indian claiming to be one of Mrs. Miller's guides, 
and that his name was Running Water. (253.) 

Robert 67. Ingersoll. 

1091. This spirit, although of comparatively short dura- 
tion in the spirit world, is able at times to vocalize fairly well, 
and being of a progressive nature, seems to have advanced quite 
rapidly since his transition. But there are many things for the 
philosopher to take into account in passing judgment upon a 
vocalization. So many, indeed, that he must not expect, except 
at rare occasions, that the gifted orator of earth life should 
not be expected to entirely duplicate by means of an artificial 
organism, after leaving the natural earthly body. 

(a) So in this instance, while the spirit was not able to 
utter as connectedly and fluently as in the mortal form, he did 
quite well in personifying what might be expected of him in 
sentiment when attempting to show to mortals that the same 
Ingersoll yet exists, and now in very elliptical style, speaking 
in conversational manner, or rather as in reciprocal colloquy, 
said, in substance, as follows: 

Responsibilities. 

(b) "They say it doesn't matter whether they believe or 
accept these things or not. That in any event they will be just 



BEYOND TEE VAIL. 383 

as well off. I wish at this time, as speaking from the world 
eternal, to say to the people of earth that there is a great respon- 
sibility; a responsibility having consequences reaching ages into 
the future and affecting the people both while on earth and long 
after they pass into spirit life. And I would like to say, too, 
that there are many cases in which a person is hardly excusa- 
ble for ignorance. And where a supine, careless, neglectful- 
ness brings down upon the subject the most appalling and inex- 
cusable darkening conditions that will shut out his enjoyment 
of the sweet light of the spirit world, sometimes for wearisome 
ages, as people of earth would reckon. I am now speaking not 
only from my own short experience in this life, but from infor- 
mation given to me by some who long have been inhabitants 
of the spirit spheres. 

Treatment of Woman. 

(c) a One of the great responsibilities resting upon man is 
the servile, unequal treatment of woman, the inability to appre- 
ciate woman. Holding that woman is made simply as a servant 
of man, to be a slave for him on earth, while man, her brutish 
lord and master, is to be escorted by men angels into the pres- 
ence of God; and instead of the sweet voices of women spirits, 
men angels in a heaven where women angels are unknown. 
Men angels make the music on harps made of the gold of Ophir, 
which Solomon took to heaven with him. But neither the Chris- 
tian Bible nor its God knows anything of the music of women 
angels, and the only revelation given to your world of the glori- 
fication of the heavenly kingdom by the presence there of poor, 
tired women slaves, used and trodden under foot of man on 
earth, comes to you through the gates of the morning along 
the glorious highway of Spiritualism, on which highway you 
are permitted to behold your mothers, your sisters, your wives 
as well as the sainted priests arrayed in garments of shining 
white and alive for evermore. Spiritualism is the only religion, 
and the God of Spiritualism is the only God that ever accorded 
unto woman equal privileges with man, both on earth and in 
the great* spirit world. [Some Quaker may doubt this.] Not 
only does that Bible that knows no women angels, and accords 
to woman no higher destiny than servitude to man, I cadi that 
women who are not fit for lascivious servitude to the sons of 
God should be put to the sword, but it invades the pure white 
innocence of little children and teaches them that, in the serv- 
ice of God and for the promotion of his kingdom, it is lauda- 
ble both to lie and steal and pillage and plunder, and even be- 
tray your best friend, and presents to the plastic mind of the 
ochild as the greatest hero of earth and heaven and of time 



384 BEYOND TEE TAIL. 

and of eternity the man whose life and garments are the most 
sanguinary, and whose soul is most licentious, notwithstanding 
the Decalogue and the Sermon on the Mount. 

(d) "Such are the morals of the Bible. So that whatever 
of moral civilization is among the people is there in spite of that 
Bible and not because of it. Let no man be content for one 
moment, thinking he has no responsibility resting on him, in 
behalf of women and children and his own household, for many 
thousands of children are reared up under the unhallowed in- 
fluence of this sanguinary code of Bible morals, and their pure 
souls filled with iniquity, so that the man who is the most 
gigantic plunderer and the one who leads conquering armies 
over the greatest number of dead bodies slain by his strategic 
command are to-day the great idols of your world. 

Original Sin and Plan of Salvation. 

(e) "Then again, the immoral tendency of the teaching 
that God would reap vengeance on an innocent babe by placing 
an incurable disease and condition of endless torment upon its 
soul for the child's disobedience to its parents. Can any sane 
person conjure up an excuse for a man or woman who would 
place upon his or her own child a galling and loathsome and 
tormenting disease for only the earth life for eating an apple 
or other fruit in disobedience of parental admonition? What 
sane person could or would think of consigning the grandchild 
to torment for life on account of the transgression of the child's 
parents? Yet the child is taught that God is a God of ven- 
geance, and that unless it believe in this merciless God, whom 
it never saw, and believe that he will endlessly torment chil- 
dren for acts of their ancestors; and believe also that there is 
a way of escape made possible for these children; but only on 
condition that they must believe that grandfather murdered 
his own son to appease his own wrath over the innocent but 
unfortunate grandchild. Yet the child must believe that God 
is just such a grandfather as that in order to escape an end- 
less hell. Such again the morals of the Bible. 

(/) "But a wonderful change has come over the people's 
minds in the last fifteen or twenty years, and it is gradually 
being learned by the people how wonderfully they have been 
duped." 

Disoandment of Political Parties the Only Hope of the Country. 

1092. On the evening of election day a spirit form that th< v 
circle recognize as Abraham Lincoln said: "I hope that some 
time hereafter your Government may fall into better hands." 
This proved to be the opening of a discussion that the states- 
man, the politician, and the people may afford to thoroughly 
consider — in fact, may it not be the kevnote to a solution of 



BEYOXD THE VAIL. 385 

u policy that will reduce political partisanship to a minimum? 
The sequel of the discussion shows that the expression of the 
spirit as above stated had reference not to any particular ad- 
ministration, but to the fact that the present method of choos- 
ing a chief magistrate must result in factional strife which 
sooner or later shifts the Government into selfish hands 
against the best interests of the whole people if it does not 
endanger the perpetuity of the Government. And now, to illus- 
trate party or political spirit, a spirit rushes out of the cabi- 
net like mad, shouting, "Hurrah for Bryan!" 

Circle: "Is Bryan elected?" 

Spirit: "Hurrah for Bryan!" 

U. S. Gran/. 

1092^. And this spirit is followed by U. S. Grant, saying: 
"That gentleman seems to know all about it." 

Spirit: "Well, I know that Mr. Bryan himself is all right." 

Grant: "But we fail to see any good in politics, as you 
have already been well apprised. Politics now mean partisan 
policies, and such policies in turn mean, in both theory and prac- 
tice, such expediencies as will most surely win for the party. 
And party couditions are not chosen by the people at all; but 
too often by chicanery of party leaders. And the result of 
an election is not the choice of the people, but of a few party 
tricksters, not for the good of the people, but for mercenary 
motives. Under the present system too often a few party 
bosses of mercenary motives govern by taking advantage of 
blind partisan zeal that is among the people. 

(a) "The only safety for the perpetuity of your Govern- 
ment is that parties should be disbanded and some system of 
elections adopted that would substitute popular rule instead 
of partisan rule." 

Seance No. 78. 

November S, 1900. 
1093. Mrs. A. B. Whitney, of Reinbeck, Iowa, presenl as 
a visitor. Conditions seemed to be very favorable, hut as usual, 
when a new though congenial element is present, the seance 
was changed from an intellectual to a form seance, and in form 
display was very brilliant. 

Dr. Herd 

1O03£. In opening, said: 

Responsibility Not Evaded al Death. 

(a) "My friends, it is glorious to know thai death does qo1 
end all. And. white if is true thai death is not the end of one's 

BV 25 



386 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

conscious existence, neither is death the end of one's responsi- 
bility. The responsibility of man is not to any God, but to him- 
self and to his fellow-man. And this responsibility is as endur- 
ing as man himself. 

(&) "In obedience to this responsibility the spirits here, 
both men and women, return to your world in order that we 
may assist in the education of man to know of his responsibili- 
ties, to whom due, and how to execute them aright. 

(c) "We know that there is great objection to our return; 
but we care not for that, as it is our duty, and we rejoice that 
those who entertain us are no longer, as of old, put to the 
sword, the cross, the thumb-screw, and the rack, that dark and 
dismal dungeons are no longer filled with our instruments, that 
ostracism is fading away, and that the awful martyrdom once 
prevalent is nearly all gone, for which we may all be thankful 
toward spirits and self-sacrificing mortals." 

Professor Denton 

1094. Said: "Again, as ever, my friends, I am delighted 
to be with you. Since meeting you last, I have attended a 
musical entertainment in the spirit world. So grand, so glori- 
ous, so soul-enchanting was the music of that entertainment 
that no words are adequate; therefore it is useless for me to 
attempt to portray to you the rich execution of that enraptur- 
ing music! And when I return to earth and hear the music 
that you have, even here, I feel so delighted in recurring mem- 
ories of some sweet moments when I was in the physical en- 
raptured by music of some well-trained orchestra there. So 
music yet has charms to soothe an appreciative soul. But I can 
not remain long at this time. I must give way for others on 
the programme." 

1095. And Denton's apostrophe was followed by an extra- 
ordinary tournament of ladies from the spirit world. The 
reader will excuse the oft repetition of the fact that the lady 
forms are always clothed upon with shining white garments. 
Sometimes they appear in simple gown or robe, and while 
standing before the circle manufacture pongee or spirit cloth, 
and make of it any pattern of dress they choose and adorn them- 
selves in different patterns and styles of habiliment. And occa- 
sionally some one of the circle stands on the floor by the side 
of the pongee-weaver, and the spirit clothes the person stand- 
ing up with it with this pongee, until the person so clothed has 
exactly the appearance of the spirit. Some of these spirit 
forms, after being clothed appropriately therefor (but nearly 
always in long skirt), will engage in dancing and waltzing move- 
ments about over the carpet in most perfect accord with the 
music of piano. But no one can at all realize these to us won- 
derful feats except by being an eye-witness. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. :-}g7 

John Baird. 

1096. Wood-carving experience of the spirit John Baird, 
as dictated to the amanuensis, spirit Wesley, to-wit: 

(a) "I have been a dweller in the spirit spheres many 
years. I am much interested in wood-carving. The exquisite 
work we plan in the spirit world would be a revelation to you 
upon earth. We not only give the gloss to the hair and deli- 
cate bloom to the cheek, but we give light to the eyes of our 
carvings. I have been engaged upon a masterpiece of carving 
in one of the opera houses in the spirit world. We, however, 
do not call them opera houses; we call them temples of learning. 

(b) "The piece I was engaged upon was not of the chase, 
as it might have been on earth, but was a scene of progression, 
showing how a dark spirit may become an angel of purity if 
he so desire. We have no tickets of admission and no reserved 
seats, and the plays differ greatly from those enacted upon the 
earthly plane. Our plays are taken from real life, and there 
are countless tragedies and comedies enacted around you each 
day. 

Sudden Wealth, Financial Disaster, Suicide. 

1097. "For instance, the last play I saw enacted was some- 
thing like this: 

(a) "There once lived in a large city upon the earth plane 
a man who, by industry, had accumulated great wealth. His 
children grew up around him, surrounded by all the luxuries 
that wealth could purchase. They had no thought for the 
morrow. 

(I) "Suddenly a crash comes and leaves them penniless. 
The father and husband hasn't enough courage to battle with 
the world and commits suicide, leaving a wife and three chil- 
dren, two daughters and a son, to struggle on alone. 

(c) "The son deserts his mother and sisters, and starts out 
alone to end in a felon cell. One daughter is too proud to 
work, and soon falls by the way. The other is a dear girl, who 
strives to sustain herself and mother by working in a factory. 
Winter is coming on and the factory closes its doors, and she 
is thrown out of employment. Then comes weary weeks of 
searching for employment, and, at last, starvation and death. 
During all this time the spirit father is vainly Irving to reacli 
them. 

(d) "The stage settings were very realistic: the scene of 
the beautiful home, the factory scene where you would hoar 
the busy hum of machinery, the lowly home of mother and 
daughter, the scene of the one who fell in life's straggles, the 
cell of the felon, the death scene of mother and daughter. Af 



388 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

ter the play came a lecture by one of our wisest teachers, en- 
treating- the audience to visit earth and prevent the too fre- 
quent occurrence of similar tragedies. 

(e) "The plays are not all like the one described. Some 
are of scenes in the spirit world and are full of beauty, but are 
like the one described, designed for special instructions. 

"John Baird." 

Photograph of Thomas Paine. 

1098. Our friend R. T. Van Horn, having procured a pho- 
tograph of the bust that is at Washington, D. C, of Thomas 
Paine, and of his eye-glasses and ankle buckles, placed the 
same on the arena table, and Sam, being out in visible form, 
had his attention called to the photograph, and was requested 
to present the same to Mr. Paine. At once Sam seized the 
photograph, took it into the cabinet, and very distinctly the 
whole circle heard this colloquy inside the cabinet, to-wit: 

Sam: "Say, Mr. Denton, vat you dink uv dot, hugh?" 
Voice of Denton : "That is very excellent, and a very good 
likeness of Mr. Paine." 

Sam: "Mr. Paine, look here. Vat you dink uv dot?" 
Paiue: "Well, I should think that fairly represents me as 
I was then, and I feel exceedingly grateful toward the friend 
for his consideration of me." 

Sam: "Say, Dr. Reed, vat you dink uv dot?" 
Reed: "That is indeed very excellent, and you can express 
our congratulations and thanks to the gentleman for us." 

Sam, rushing out of the cabinet, said: "Mr. Con Horn, dese 
vellers all send me to express their congratulationems und 
tanks for your considerationem uv all us vellers here." Then 
Sam laid the photograph on the table and retired into the cab- 
inet, and immediately 

Milt McOee 

1099. Came out of the cabinet, talking very rapidly, and 
identifying himself to friend Van Horn in various ways, one of 
the most striking of which was this: 

(a) "Say, Van, do you remember how on one occasion, 
many years ago, I rode down town at a good lively pace, and 
the police held me up for fast driving? And that the next morn- 
ing I rode down on a Texas steer, and had a board with holes 
in it, so as to fit the horns through the holes, thus holding the 
board in front of the steer's head just above his eyes, and on 
that board in great display I had the words, 'Go slow'?" 

Van: "Oh, yes, Mac. I do remember that incident dis- 
tinctly as a great joke on that Kansas City policeman for a long 



HEYOXD THE VAIL. 389 

while, and the byword of caution that came out of it, 'Go slow.' "■ 
Spirit: "How would you know who I am if I would not 
swear a little?" 

Van: "That's so, Milt." 

Spirit: "Well, Van, this is a great place to come, but 

there 's a whole lot of mutton-heads who won't try to find 

it out. You just tell them that they had better 'go slow' 011 
their opposition or they '11 hear from Milt MeGee, and if they 
pay no attention now, they surely must a little later on. But 
Vsm, I am not in politics now; neither Republican or Democrat 
or what not. I must go now." And the spirit was gone away. 

Seance No. 79. 

November 11, 1900. 

1100. As soon as the circle were seated for the seance, the 
artist came forth and made a portrait first of a lady, recognized 
by Mrs. Miller as a good likeness of her husband's mother, late 
deceased. (See paragraph 982.) 

Immediately after the portrait of Mrs. Miller's mother-in- 
law, the spirit made a bust portrait of a gentleman, which Mrs. 
Whitney at once recognized as an excellent likeness of her late 
deceased husband, Anson B. Whitney. (1106.) 

♦In this latter case, Mrs. Whitney came here, four days pre- 
viously, from her home at Beinbeck, Iowa, some three hundred 
miles away, being an entire stranger to this part of the coun- 
try, to the circle, and to the medium, having no portrait or like- 
ness of Mr. Whitney with her as she alleges, and after this 
spirit had appeared in visible form to her complete satisfactory 
recognition, another form stood before her, took a sheet of 
sketch paper, showed to her that it was blank, and then took 
a crayon pencil and marked upon the paper; all the while the 
whole process and the form doing the sketching were in her 
sight, and this marking continued one and one-fourth minutes, 
and the artist handed the paper to the circle, and on the paper 
was a very well-drawn crayon portrait of which this half-tone 
is a copy. Mrs, Whitney recognized that crayon portrait to be 
a good likeness of her husband, the laic Anson B. Whitney. 
except, she says, that Mr. Whitney did not pari liis hair in the 
middle. 'For portrait, see 1100.) And here is another picture 
of a "subliminal, subconscious. detached, vitalized, electro mag- 
netic astral shell." But our bunches of "condensed moonshine" 
can taik, write, dance, and sing so like those wlio once walked 
the earth that we are satisfied to claim them for what they 
themselves say they are: veritable men and women in full con 
scions existence in perpetuated individuality, although the 
'earthly shell" be gone back to "the earth as it was." (Eccl. 
xii. 7.) And if Solomon's God is omnipresent, the spiril would 



390 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

not have to go beyond Mr. Pratt's seance-room to be with "God 
who gave it." 

1101. At this seance, after the two portraits, the form 
presentations were more numerous than usual, and exceedingly 
brilliant, but description would only be repetition. 

Professor Denton. 

1102. At the public seance on November 13th Denton said : 
(a) "I see that at one time the preachers were looked upon 

by the people as something of authority, but now they are not 
as much considered so. An inventor has greater prestige. 
While there are evidences of advancement, yet there are places 
even in the United States of America where you people, for 
holding seances such as these, would be arrested and put in jail 
for disturbing the peace. So, friends, do not console yourselves 
that barbarism does not yet stalk abroad in your land. 

(&) ''Nearly or quite all religions have worshiped idols, 
some in one way and some in another; but it is all idolatrous 
practice, nevertheless. 

1103. "Now Spiritualism is the only religion that, in es- 
sence, is entirely free from idolatry. Spiritualism has no kind 
of God and sets up no superior personage to whom worshipful 
homage is due. Spirits of this dispensation of Spiritualism 
universally declare to you that they are not superior beings, and 
universally ask to be looked upon only in the light of one com- 
mon fraternity with yourselves; with the advantage only of 
having passed 'beyond the vail,' just a little in advance of your- 
selves; and that yourselves, as they, will be privileged to return 
when you, too, will have passed to the beyond. So that Spirit- 
ualism is the only religion that in essence is entirely free from 
idolatry. 

1104. "Now I want to say that there is no use discussing 
any more about that Bible, about which there has been more 
discussion than about all else. And out of those discussions 
have been manufactured sentiments that led to oppression in 
the most merciless manner. In fact, that Bible has been the 
bottom pretext for the greatest evils and oppressions of your 
world for the last two thousand years. Many people refer to 
that Bible, but neither spirits nor Spiritualists need to make 
such reliance, or to sanction the Bible by manifesting depend- 
ence upon it. 

(a) "We can prove future life and spirit and spirit return 
without the Bible. But you cannot prove it within or by the 
Bible. The Bible is an invention gotten up to frighten human- 
ity into faith in a dependence upon some God and his agents. 
And they even frighten little children to believe their innocent 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



391 



souis are in danger of hell fire, unless they bow down and wor- 
ship some image, material or mental. 

1105. ''But Spiritualism is not here to leach you to go to 
hell. Spiritualism teaches you morals. What immorality do 
spirits teach? Your world is bad enough, though not so bad as 
it is sometimes painted, but the had came out of the religions, 
and especially out of what is generally called Christianity. 
What vile thing found in your world that the chosen people of 
the Bible God were not commanded to practice?" 



Seance No. 80. 



November 15, 1900. 




ANSON B. WHITNEY. 

Anson B. Whitney. (1118.) 

HOC. This spirit, whose portrait was made ai the last 
seance, again standing before the circle in the condition of vis- 
ibility, made an effort at tolling to the circle sonic of liis expe 
rience, saving: 



392 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(a) "I had made much investigation of Spiritualism while 
on earth, and had learned considerable of what spirits report 
conditions to be in the spirit life, and I found that I had a very 
correct conception of the conditions obtaining there, which fact 
was of great benefit to me in this: that I did not have to waste 
lime in learning of this matter after my arrival here. Hence 
there was no disappointment to me except that everything was 
vastly more realistic than I had ever conceived possible. I 
realized from the first that I was out of the physical body, in 
spirit life, and had no regrets concerning the change. I was 
favored with a good degree of practical spirituality in my nat- 
ure, and this enabled me to continue right on along the lines 
of spiritual demands, and furnished me w r ith quite a beautiful 
home and condition of light. 

1107. " 'Whose wife shall she be?' (Matt. xxii. 28.) 

(a) "I found also that my own condition of spirituality 
and that of my second wife are so nearly congenial that she and 
I can harmonize together in the same home over here; and 
therefore she and I will be united here as on earth. 

ib) "I have met my first wife and find that she is in har- 
mony with other conditions just suited to her case, and that 
she is entirely satisfied that it is so, leaving no unpleasant re- 
grets with either of us and leaving me with no attractions to 
other than my second wife, near to whom I ever shall be drawn, 
having a watchful care in her behalf until, when her work be 
done on earth, and she be called to this side, then joyfully shall 
we together go. I am failing and must go now, but I hope to 
continue my narrative to you at some time soon." (HIS.) 

Answering Test Requirements. 

1108. Various persons in different parts of the country, 
from time to time, asked for certain tests to be given them. 
They did not need the tests themselves, they said, but wanted 
some strong test given to them that they might lay it before 
their friends and astonish the world. Generally, the spirits 
declined to so out of their own regular line to answer these 
requests, and at this time Denton chose to answer, once for all, 
on this wise: 

(a) Dr. Schellhous, having received a letter from a person 
in a distant State, accompanied by a sheet of paper having some 
characters about over the paper, as though they might be de- 
signed as ciphers which could only be interpreted by a key, 
and the letter asking the Doctor to place that cipher paper be- 
fore this band of spirits, so that they could try their skill at 
reading this cipher, or whatever it was, as a test case, not to 
the writer of the letter, oh, no — he wanted no test himself, but 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 393 

just to astonish the world, and he instructed the Doctor to let 
no one but himself handle that cipher except the spirits, and 
return to the writer. The letter also stated that the writer de- 
sired Denton to inform him whether "Denton is his guide.' 1 
And the Doctor, after reading the letter to the circle, placed the 
letter and cipher on the arena table. 

{])) And so soon as the circle were seated for seance, the 
spirit Professor Denton came forth to the table, picked up that 
letter and cipher, and said: 

1109. "Friends, we have here a letter from a gentleman 
who says he don't want any test, but is desirous to have this 
matter so that he can spread it to the world that the world 
may look on aghast and believe. If this gentleman don't want 
any test, why does he ask one? Such test as this gentleman 
asks could not be of any benefit to any person but himself, or 
at least could be no test to anybody but himself, as even a child 
would know. 

(a) "Now, friends, we have appointed a circle of mortals 
to personally experience our powers of giving demonstration of 
our existence in post-mortal continuation of the conscious exist- 
ence of our individualized personality, and to proclaim your 
experiences to the world. 

1110. "And, Mr. Secretary, I am going to ask you a ques- 
tion, and, as a lawyer, I shall insist on an answer forthwith. 
and this is my question: Of two men of equal reputation for 
truth and veracity, and of equal competency in every way. Lo 
testify in a certain matter, is the testimony of one of these 
witnesses better than that of the other?'' 

(a) Secretary: "The testimony of the two men, all things 
being equal as to the ingredients of their testimony, would be 
equal." 

Dr. Schellhous (who lias been a lawyer) answers: "Their 
testimony would be equal." 

{b) Spirit: "Very well, then. The Doctor has written this 
matter up already, and the spiritual press has published his tes 
timony. Would not Dr. Schellhous, an eye witness, be as com 
petent to testify as that man at a distance, with only hearsay 
evidence? We are not here for the purpose of converting indi- 
viduals, but to give to the world an account of our actual po^ 
ers. If we would answer this and the other icsis demanded, 
we would be plied with calls for tests until we could not go on 
with our work. 'Rending the Vail' contains ;;<•<-. >nnis of our 
various powers of tests, and in as good shape as this gentleman 
could relate it." 

1111. A drawing-room diagram, taken in the usual time 
and manner. (1223.) 



394 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Sarah Martindell. 

1112. This spirit gives the name Sarah, and says: "I am 
Mrs. Whitney's guide, and she knows about me. I have been 
in spirit life a good long time. I find here a glorious country, 
but glorious only to those who are in condition of its apprecia- 
tion, as you have often been told and shown. And as you have 
learned, this is no land of idleness; there is room and calling 
for every activity of the soul. As for me, I am engaged in teach 
ing newborn souls the way of travel in the spirit world and 
how they may return to your world. I teach them by showing 
them the way. And of course I am also on watch for those 
approaching the spirit side of life. This work I can do and at 
the same time oversee the guidance of Mrs. Whitney. 

1113. "In my work I have had some experiences, and one 
of which Mrs. Whitney may have some knowledge. In this case 
a mother was left alone with two small children, a boy and 
girl. The mother was taken sick and could get no food that 
she could relish, and was starving in consequence. And the lit- 
tle boy says: 'Mamma, I have seen some fruit that you can eat 
and it will do you good.' And the woman asked him where. 
And the little one said: 'Someone showed it to me, but I do 
not know who it was.' But the boy described the fruit that he 
saw, and someone recognized what fruit it was the little one 
described, and they got some of that fruit, and the woman could 
eat of it and it gave relief from starvation at that time. And 
this was shown the boy by one of his guides. But now these 
children are over here with me and I am training them and hope 
to be able to have them here very soon, and tell you some more 
of my experience in spirit life work." 

Peter Cooper. 

1114. A spirit not giving his name made a little speech, 
saying: 'What fools some mortals are! when, if they only 
would come into this room, they would see and know whether 
the life on earth is the last of them. 

(a) "When I was on earth I thought that death ended all. 
But now I know that there is no death; that man will never 
die; and I can yet say: 'God bless the little children!' And I 
perceive that mediums have a hard time. I have seen many 
spirits, and they have shown me great light about spiritual 
things. I was in contact with the poor people of earth. I have 
no polished speech for you. I always talked plainly and I now 
so talk. I have helped many people to bread and butter. I 
never turned a poor soul away hungry. I have traveled to help 
the poor and needy and have given them food and clothing. 



BEYOND THE TAIL. ;;<.,:, 

And, sometimes, when I see so many of earth yet who need help, 
I wish to go back. But here I am a pauper as to the wealth 
of earth; however, I can do more for the poor than ever I could 
on earth with millions. As there I never refused anyone, so 
from here I am able to provide assistance for many a one in 
both food and raiment." 

Sam informed the circle that this was Peter Cooper, the 
philanthropist. 

Seance No. 81. 

November 18, 1900. 

Professor Denton, 

1115. Commenting on the secretary's report of his answer 
to the cipher test requisition of the last seance, said: 

(a) "Mr. Nixon, your report is not as strong as 1 made 
my speech. I wanted it strong, so that people might know that 
it is not our purpose or business to use these seances for the 
benefit of one person at a time. Suppose we should ask you 
a test every time you come here, would you not soon get tired 
of it? Why don't these test-hunters demand of you mortals to 
prove who you are every day in the week? Just as sensible as 
for us to prove our identity at every meeting to every person 
that hears of us. 

(b) "These seances that we are giving here are every one 
of them test seances, and under stronger test conditions than 
wiseacres of earth can devise or suggest or duplicate." 

The secretary would suggest to the test- and fraud-hunter 
that he read "Bending the Vail." Read it all, and then try his 
hand at duplicating some of the tests as there recorded. 

Frank Miller. 

111G. And right away our artist made a bust portrail near 
life size, in less than four minutes, that would require an artist 
in the mortal and normal condition and unaided by spirit, hours 
and perhaps days to duplicate. On page 396 is a copy of that 
portrait. Several of the circle at once recognized the portrait 
as a good likeness of Frank Miller, who, when attending school 
at the State University at Lawrence, Kansas, was taken sick 
of typhus, typhoid, or some such disease, which resulted in his 
death. This occurred several years ago. 

1117. When the artist had done Ibis picture, then the 
young man's father, a spirit in materialized form, came forth 
to visibility, walking about in front of the circle as though in 
gladness, first made himself known to several of the circle who 



396 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 




FRANK MILLER. 



cine.: 



liad known him in life, and said: "That picture is of my son 
Frank. Though this is my first visit here; it is grand, it is glo- 
rious! I am so glad to be able to see you people of earth in 
this way and hope to call again.' 7 



Anson B. Whitney. 



(1106.) 



1118. This spirit, continuing his discourse which he began 
the other evening, said: 

(a) "Friends, I was telling you that I was glad I knew so 
much as I did when I left the physical, about Spiritualism. That 
little knowledge enabled me to travel about at once and begin 
to know from observation of conditions pertaining to this life; 
and to see and commune with my friends who had reached this 
side before, and they did at once inform me of their own expe- 
riences here. So I soon learned the inestimable value of a prac- 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 397 

tical knowledge of this great truth to oue 011 entering the spirit 
world. Therefore I am anxious to learn more and more myself, 
not only, but to help to have the people of earth know as much 
as possible concerning the life in spirit, in order to their bene- 
fit on entering here, for the spiritually developed soul is ena- 
bled to travel and traverse great distances and behold the 
glories and inhabitants of vast regions in very little time as 
compared with conditions of earth. Such easy, such deliglnful 
travel, too! And as one is wafting along, his old comrades meet 
him everywhere along the way. 

(b) "There was a time when I did not suspect the exist- 
ence of such a world as this; and before my entrance here, I 
had not the least conception of such a glorious mode of travel. 

(c) "I am glad my wife takes a lively interest in this grand 
reality, for thus she is working out for herself conditions winch 
make for her a beautiful and congenial home over here when 
she is called to leave the physical life. I cannot hold longer; 
must go now, but will call again if I can." 

Mrs. Gray the Luxurious. 

1119. This spirit talked as though of fair education and 
as having been a good entertainer in the narration of current 
events, but just as she had reached control of speech and 
opened the subject of her experience, some noise about the 
house created disturbance in the circle to such an extent as to 
interfere with hearing the speech of the spirit. She returned 
into the cabinet, but upon quiet being restored, the spirit came 
again and rehearsed what she had said and was again entering 
in good style upon her theme when sudden barking of dogs out- 
side the house about the premises interfered with the hearing 
again, so we only can give the substance of part of the effort: 

(a) That while on earth she had what in social parlance 
would be considered a grand time, and was comparatively 
happy. Every desirable thing that money could purchase was 
at her command, but money would not prevent inharmonies. 
Money would not produce harmony out of inharmonious condi 
tions. And. above all. money would not restore lost health, 
would not return the past; and notwithstanding she had all the 
luxuries of earth at her command, it was all vanity as compared 
with conditions of spirit life. 

(h) And here is another thing to consider and to ponder, 
and that is thai money — all the money of earth, all the wealth 
of earth, will not purchase a single beautiful home in the spiril 
world, but the love of gain leaves along the way stranded souls 
in countless numbers, and these wrecks furnish a vast field for 
philanthropic labor on the spiril side of life. 

(c) While her physical life became a wreck, her s]>irii was 



398 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

only retarded in growth; and, on leaving the physical, she also 
left the ills that flesh is heir to, and she is now out of it all; 
clear of earthly desire and dwelling in a glorious home with an 
abundance of philanthropic work to do, and moving up the high- 
way of eternity with gladness and great joy, no more knowing 
regrets or sorrow. 

The spirit began to tell of a sister and a little girl, but con- 
ditions were such that the form dissolved away. Whether this 
spirit can again stand here and finish the narrative remains to 
the future. 

Mrs. Edmondson. 

1120. Another spirit of the appearance of a woman, stand- 
ing before the circle, said: 

(a) "My name is Edmondson. Since I have been in spirit 
life my trouble is all gone, and I have no more fear. We all 
have plenty to do here, as on earth, but our work here is differ- 
ent somewhat from what you would call work. We have vari- 
ous societies here, some of which are for the purpose of assist- 
ing needy souls into better conditions. These are called benev- 
olent societies. 

1121. "And these societies work by means of committees 
very much the same as your societies, except these committees 
work somewhat differently. We do not solicit financial aid as 
on earth, but visit the needy with spiritual food. Though some- 
times we find those who need material aid in the mortal, and 
then we induce or try to induce someone having the ability to 
aid the needy ones." 

A Professor of Odd Jobs. 

1122. One we did not recognize at the time said: 

(a) "Friends, I wish that people on earth could be like us. 
People on earth are trying to delve in things they know noth- 
ing about. You book-readers must know that much claimed as 
science is only theory — not even susceptible of demonstration. 
We demonstrate what we say, but that the theorists cannot do. 
One of them gives a theory, another gives a different theory, 
and a third has a third and contradictory of both the former. 
And now they are out among the planets, trying to talk to in- 
habitants of Mars. They can see great mechanical structures 
on that planet, and how the people of that planet have hung 
out signal dispatches for scientists of earth to read, but they 
see no mule on the Mars canal tow-path. 

(b) "Well, I should think thai very much like the month of 
March, a little windy. But we can tell you about the sun and 
Mercury and Venus and Mars and Jupiter and Saturn and Ura- 
nus and Neptune. We have been there. I have visited those 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 399 

planets. Some of them have very peculiar inhabitants and 
strange curiosities. 

(c) "The scientists are trying to talk to Mars and unearth 
Jupiter. They are just trying and that is all there is to it. But 
you people can talk to Mars through us as messengers. There 
are some things about Venus that are very respectable. You 
wish to know who I am? Well, I was a professor, a professor 
of odd jobs." 

Thomas Paine. 

1123. This spirit, basing heretofore given the most that 
he designed for this book, only speaks a limited amount occa- 
sionally now, and that for the purpose only of pleasing some 
visitor who insists on hearing a sample of the ability of Paine 
to vocalize, though whenever he does speak he says something 
of literary merit and generally quoting something formerly ut- 
tered by him. On this occasion he spoke thus: 

(a) "Good-evening, friends. The world is my country. To 
do good is my religion. It seems strange that people will con- 
tend so tenaciously for those basely fabricated dogmas, and 
continually teach them to their little ones. But in spite of 
all their efforts, the world is slowly drifting away from their 
idols toward this, the true light, and people are becoming more 
and more freed from those soul-destroying superstitions, and 
looking more toward an untrammeled future. And, as the 
world grows and people begin to think for themselves, they will 
discover how foolishly they have been paying others to think 
for them. The world is beginning to think, and this is the gray 
dawning." 

Seance No. 82. 

November 22, 190(h 

1124. Dr. Heed gave out that one more seance would close 
the giving of matter for the present publication, and urged thai 
the work be hastened before the public with all dispatch con 
sistent with having it well done. 

Professor Denton 

1125. Said: "You have been faithful co-workers with us. 
and the least Ave can do is to express to you our thankfulness. 
And we do sincerely thank you that you have helped us to do 
that which we assure you will be of lasting benefit to the world 
of mortals, tfhis work will endure on the earth, and be of gen 
eral good to all classes, by and by — even the little children will 
receive great good from it. We are trying all the time to do 
good, but obstacles cross our way. Nevertheless we persist. 
and at last we accomplish our work. 

(a) "I have met many spirits since we began this work. 



400 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Spirits of different stages or conditions, varying in stages of 
unfoldment, and we have given you the best selections we could 
to represent these varying conditions. But in this work we 
have not entered into illustration of conditions of higher 
spheres, but we have given the best we could to illustrate con- 
ditions found in the lower spheres and the means of advancing 
toward the higher spheres." 

David Campbell. 

1126. Comes now a spirit, saying: "Mr. Mxon, do you re- 
member Campbell?" 

Mxon: "You don't look much like John Campbell that 
traced the floor of the great glacial river." 

Spirit : "No, sir. I am his father. But we have no glacial 
river nor glacial drift over here, except the dregs of that God 
that suddenly awoke, about six thousand years ago, out of a 
billion ages of dark night, feeling lonesome, and tried to stand 
and found he had no footstool, and set to work and piled up 
great mountains of nothing, and out of that nothing made a 
little something which he called the earth, or had Adam to 
name it, and God used it for a footstool for him to stand upon 
while he made the sun. moon, and stars also (Gen. i. 16), by col- 
lecting and bunching nothings together. But it doth 'not yet 
appear' what was the iloor of that glacial river a million years 
before God made the world out of nothing and hung it up on 
nothing to dry. (Job xxvi. 7.) 

(a) "Well, my son John has not found that God yet. Nei- 
ther have I. And I have not found any son of such a God, nor 
have I found any of the other fellows. For, when they went out 
into the wilderness with the 'mistakes of Moses' on their backs, 
the great 'scapegoat' and all stuck in a quagmire and perished 
there, and the devil has been dead ever since, and God is gone, 
and the 'very God,' his son, is gone, and the third God no 
longer 'proeeedeth from the other two,' and man, only man, 
remains standing upon the pinnacle of the material and spirit- 
ual universe. And we have come down now out of pity for you 
poor fellows on earth, for of all things and conditions that need 
sympathy, it is the poor fellow of earth that goes hunting along 
glacial rivers and other cold trails in trying to find out God, 
and at last you find that God is out. 

(?>) "But this is a grand, good thing you people have here. 
1 wish I had been here and to such as this longUgo. It would 
have been of more use to me than mastodons in the frozen 
North or glacial relics in the tropics. Still I was a good man, 
as your world estimates, and would make a good relative show- 
ing anyway. But not being used to this, T cannot longer hold 
this form." And the spirit vanished. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 401 

Stephen Girard. 

1127. One whom the circle recognized as this personage 
because one heretofore was in conversation with this circle 
claiming to be such person and giving satisfactory evidence to 
the circle that the claims were true. And now one stands here 
having the same appearance and mannerisms, speaking with the 
same peculiar tenderness and much similar matter of address; 
the circle conclude that if the former was Stephen Girard, this 
one is also he speaking thus, to-wit: 

(a) "If the world of spirits for a moment discern condi- 
tions thereof, they bend in sympathetic pity over your world. 
Oh, friends! how many thonsands are shivering with cold to- 
night! But God has built him up a great trust (the priesthood), 
and this trust has built him temples, and God, by his chosen 
trust, hath shorn the lambs and taken the wool, and of it hath 
clothed his trustees in broadcloth, and they stand up in broad- 
cloth and a gold watch-chain and an emerald charm with dia 
mond setting, and say to the shorn, shivering lambs: 'How we 
do pity you! But be still and trust in God while we clip a lit- 
tle more wool, for God loveth a cheerful giver that lendeth unto 
the Lord to dress up his trustees in broadcloth and white neck- 
ties.' And yonder is a babe in its mother's arms. Poor 
mother! cold, hungry, and only a few rags about mother and 
babe. And the trustee, in velveteen pants, while standing, for 
the poor woman is too feeble to have the floor swept clean, and 
she has no carpet on which to kneel, but the preacher prays 
God to raise up the child to be a worker for the trustees of 
God's Church. 'Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, O God, be 
done! And if Thou seest best to let the babe and its mother 
freeze and starve, O God, do Thou remove them to Thyself out 
of the way of more profitable servants, and our skirts are clear! 
for we have told Thee about this poor, shivering, starving, dy- 
ing mother and babe. For Christ's sake. Amen.' 

(b) "Dear friends, there never was a more vile curse played 
upon the human race than this merciless mockery of Constan- 
tinian Christianity. Oh, friends, yon know not of the thonsands 
of poor mothers and their babes, and how they suffer in the 
shadow's of tall steeples and gilded mansions. And these lit- 
tle ones and their mothers find relief at last on the spirit side, 
where no trustees have all things locked up for the benefit of 
the God of trusts.'* 

Should some reader deem this too strong as against tlie 
priesthood, it might be a relief to suggest that the spirit is 
simply trying to emphasize what he deems a fact : that trusts 
generally are Mammon idolaters, and that the God of the priest- 
hood to-day is that same Mammon that the Bible says Jesus 

BV 26 



402 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

talked about to the Jewish priesthood (Matt. vi. 24, xxiii. 14; 
Luke xvi. 13), and the spirit continues, saying: 

Little Myrtle. 

1128. "But I met a little child, a sweet little one, a dear 
little one, golden-haired and shining tresses, a tender little 
cherub, but alone. 1 placed my hand upon her head, and she 
looked up at me, such innocent eyes, and I said: /Dear little 
child, what is your name?' x\nd she says: 'My name is Myrtle.' 

"And I said: 'That is a beautiful name, a pretty-sounding 
name, just suited to such an innocent little angel. Then, my 
little Myrtle, where are your parents?' She says: 'They are 
somewhere over yonder, I am told, but I do not not know ex- 
actly where.' 

"I said: 'It you will go with me, Myrtle, I will find and 
show you to your parents.' She says: 'I thank you ever so 
much, but I must wait here, for one told me to wait for his 
return, and he would take me to my parents.' 

"Then I asked: 'What is the gentleman's name?' She said: 
'Denton ig the name. He belongs to a band of spirits who are 
trying to com ert the heathen.' 

(a) "Friends, the little one and I talked on the conditions 
over here, and I found that she was a bright little child and 
could inform me of many tilings. And so I prolonged my con- 
versation with the little angel. I call her a little angel because 
I cannot better express her innocence and purity. And the lit- 
tle angel patiently stayed at her post until Denton came and 
took her to mamma, then took the little one to its papa, but 
her papa and mamma are not in the same sphere. 

"And Myrtle says: 'How is it that it is so dark here where 
papa is and so bright where my mamma is?' 

"Denton: 'My dear child, your papa led a life of crime and 
debauchery, and thus made for himself these dark conditions 
in which he is now suffering for his wrongful earthly course.' 

"Myrtle said: 'Please, good sir, and take me back to mam- 
ma, where it is not dark, but a beautiful, bright home.' 

(b) "And Denton led the little one back to mamma, and 
little Myrtle was content, in that nice cosy home with mamma. 
But its papa must wander on in that darkness until some good 
evangel shall seek him and show him his way out of that dark- 
ness into light. Perhaps little Myrtle will, after awhile, become 
his 'dear redeemer,' leading papa out to where there is peace 
and rest for him, and little Myrtle will have her own sweet con- 
dition made more sweet because of papa's redemption." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



408 

~ 1 




OGON* 

Vestured with the complete coronal dome of ancient Masonry. 

1129. And when Girard had gone, the artist came forth 
and made a portrait, of which the above is a copy, in some less 
than ninety seconds, under as strict test conditions as any 

*The reader is especially referred to paragraph 1297 for origin and development of 
Masonry. 



404 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

heretofore described, and when done, the artist presented the 
picture to the secretary, saying: 

(a) "Dr. Heed told me to present you this picture. And 
you will find it exceedingly nice. It belongs to you and is a 
picture of one of your old spirit friends who has been in the 
spirit world near two thousand years, and he is a very bright 
spirit." 

1130. Then came a lady form, saying: "My name is Mar- 
garet Omar, and that picture is of Ogon. We are preparing 
others to go on a journey." 

The secretary, not being sure that he clearly understood 
the names given, asked Sam, and Sam then spelled: "O-g-o-n. 
Pronounce dot shoost as you yant to. He says he 's been in 
the spirit world between 1,800 years and 2,000 years." (See 
1297.) 

Now someone turns up his nose, saying: "I should think a 
spirit ought to guess within a thousand years of how long since 
He died, especially a very bright spirit. Ha, ha!" And he thinks 
that sarcasm settles it. But just that kind of ignorance used 
to say: "If the world turns over, the dishes will fall from the 
table to the ceiling. Ha, ha!" 

Seance No. 88. 

November 25, 1900. 

1131. Full circle save two. R, T. Van Horn present. Ed- 
ward Butler, of Memphis, Missouri, and Mr. Harn, of Ellinwood, 
Kansas, present as visitors. Dr. Reed opened the seance in his 
usual gentle manner, bidding the visitors welcome; stating, 
however, that an investigator could hardly appreciate a seance 
of this kind. 

Professor Denton 

1132. Spoke a few words, saying: "Friends, I am here 
again and glad to meet you. And especially glad to meet 
Colonel Van Horn; and I hope we may all meet again in this 
way. We think we have done a marvelous lot of good in our 
work here. And so far the coming book is just as great a suc- 
cess as the former one." 

1133. This evening the artist made three portraits in quick 
succession, not more than three minutes of time being con- 
sumed in making the three. One of them was for Mr. Van Horn, 
and the name Eunice was given, but neither the picture nor 
name was recognized, and the one given for Mr. Butler was not 
recognized; therefore both are omitted. But the third picture 
for Mr. Pratt was one of his guides, and the name was given. 

Bozzaris, 

1134. Being historical, is inserted here. This Bozzaris 
claims to be the one mentioned in Encyclopedia Britannica as 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



4or> 




MARCO BOZZARIS. 



1184. 



406 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

"A Greek patriot born near the close of the eighteenth century; 
and, after a defeat in 1822, fell back to Missolonghi, which he 
defended until the arrival of a Hujdrate fleet compelled the be- 
siegers to retire. In the summer of 1823 he learned that a large 
Turkish force had been dispatched against the town, and resolv- 
ing to anticipate the attack, he set out secretly with 1,200 men. 
On the 20th of August he came upon the encampment of the 
Turkish vanguard, and a night attack was crowned with suc- 
cess, but the victory was saddened by the loss of Bozzaris, who 
fell in the action." 

Charley Van Horn, 

1135. After this spirit thoroughly identified himself to his 
father, Mr. R. T. Van Horn, in a running conversation between 
father and son, the spirit said to the circle: 

(a) " Since in spirit life I have abandoned the commercial 
business and have been engaged for some of the time at teach- 
ing, and while in this capacity I learned very much and to my 
great benefit. I met a lady and she was alone with none to care 
for her. I told her 1 would teach her, and in leading her along 
the way, it has developed that we are very congenial. And, 
with the aid of Mrs. Levy, a lady whom my father used to know 
and whom he now knows, for that matter, we placed her in a 
higher position. 

1136. "At the beginning of this present book I served for 
a while here as a messenger, but soon was changed, or promoted. 
That word may sound a little peculiar in this connection, but 
I was assigned to a job that someone must do, and I was told 
that I would just fill that place, which, it seems, I have done 
quite satisfactorily. And I am ready for another promotion* 
and they promise me that I shall be a messenger to higher 
spheres for the next book, and in the meantime I shall follow 
a different calling. So I hope that I shall at least meet some 
of you again in this capacity. When it came my time to go 
hence, father felt very sad, but that all left him when he was 
able to meet me face to face as of old." 

Seance No. 84- 

November 27, 1900. 

1137. For the reason that conditions would not permit, 
the work intended for Sunday evening «eance was not all com- 
pleted then, and so, at the public seance on this evening, con- 
ditions being somewhat better, the celestials gave to the circle 
a marvelous display of forms, mostly of ladies, dressed in their 
most brilliant pongee garments, bordered with pongee lace, and 
when their arms were extended to a horizontal attitude, or 
more elevated, broad pongee lace, seemingly just thrown over 



BEY OX D THE VAIL. 407 

the arms, and spreading from shoulders to linger tips, reached 
to the floor, and pongee lace was interwoven with the hair, and 
some of it had the appearance of being bedecked with jewels 
radiating diamond reflections, and these forms, thus clothed 
upon, moving about the room in front of the circle in panto- 
mime of theatrical playing, constituted a display of psychic 
celestial beauty and grandeur which no pen can describe nor 
painting portray; and which perhaps exceedingly few mortals 
not clairvoyant ever beheld. 

A JRose from Celestial Gardens. 

1138. One of these spirit ladies gave us a message, accom- 
panying the speaking with an abundance of gesticulation, and 
the reader can see how well adapted the message is to afford 
varied and extended gesticulation and display of the apparel 
and draperies, and thus did that spirit talk: 

(a) "My dear friends of earth, although I belong to what 
are called the higher spheres and am generally located out of 
the influences of rudimental conditions of earth, yet we feel it 
a pleasure to be assigned to any post where we can be of assist- 
ance in helping souls out of the rudimental into higher develop- 
ment, and especially where the individual is praying for aid to 
help on to a more desirable condition of evolution. 

1139. "I met one who was well on the way out of the rudi- 
mental. This one had seen a mountain afar off and observed a 
very brilliant light upon the top of the mountain, and was at- 
tracted toward that light, and had undertaken to go to the bril- 
liant light, and had gone as far as the foot of the mountain. 
But the mountain was high, with steep and rugged sides, and 
no apparent pathway leading up. I beheld him anxiously gaz- 
ing up the rugged steeps for a way to reach the light, and I 
pointed out the pathway and gave him instructions. As he 
gradually ascended. I gave him farther instructions, and fre- 
quently led the way for him to follow, and at last ho reached 
the summit of that mountain, and. having overcome all obsta- 
cles to ascension, stood in that beautiful light. 

1140. "And I told him to look to the cast, and there, far 
away in the distance, was another great and brilliant light upon 
a high elevation, and this light he had passed and these two 
lights lit up the plains below, over which he had traveled. And 
now he could see all the conditions through which he had pass 
on his way between the two mountainous promontories. 

1141. "Then T had him look toward the north, and. far 
away, there was another mountainous light promontory, and 
many travelers on the plains below were coming toward us. 

1142. "And I had him about face and look toward the 
South, and there, too. was a great light afar off. and the ex 



408 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

tended plains between, covered with pilgrims coming toward us. 

1143. "And then 1 had him turn toward the west and 
away across a beautiful and broad expanse in the glowing west 
was another mountain, a most beautiful scene; and there, too, 
was a great and brilliant light, and vast multitudes of people 
on the plains below, headed toward that western mount of 
beauty. 

Messengers Assist the Tired Pilgrims. 

1144. "However, some do get so tired climbing those moun- 
tains, they almost falter by the way. Some for a time do turn 
back; some move grandly on, up and over and down the moun- 
tain sides, across the plains beyond to other mountains. But 
messengers from the spheres beyond are we, and we gladly 
take up and lead over the way the tired and weary ones until 
at last the sweet havens beyond and above all clouds and dark- 
ness be reached amid the joyful acclaims of those glorified ones 
whose countenances light up the plains and hills and mountains 
of eternal song and beauty and grandeur that lie stretching 
away toward the dazzling domes of eternity." 

(See how beautifully Thomas Paine paints this journey in 
"Bending the Vail," paragraphs 2455-2458.) Bessie informed 
the circle that this lady is known in the spirit world by the 
name of Bose. 

1145. Then a lady, perhaps of ancient Greece, more gor- 
geously attired and quite tall for a lady, made motions and ges- 
ticulations upAvardly, as though speaking of things above, con- 
tinuing this pantomime for some time, then made a short tall: 
in some foreign tongue, continuing the gesticulations at the 
same time. 

1146. When she had gone away, the voice of a man in the 
cabinet said: "That lady was saying she came from a higher 
celestial sphere to introduce to you an open way between earth 
and the celestial realms of spirit life.-' 

Ka tiff's Benediction . 

1147. After several other such feminine displays, a celes- 
tial having the appearance of a man stood forth and in good 
sympathetic vocalization said: "Can it be that all mortals are 
placed here on earth for a brief little span, and then to be no 
more? And how can mortals know otherwise, if immortality 
be a fact, how shall man ever know that man does live again 
unless man from spirit side shall show himself alive to man 
on earth? And though from spirit life man has been showing 
himself alive to mortals for many .years, only just now is man 
waking up out of his long night of sleep. 

1148. "When one lies down upon his pillow at night, he 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 4(K) 

does not know in what world he will awaken on the morrow- 
yea, for the most part he does not know whether he will ever 
awaken at all in any world. And he persists in this bleak ignor- 
ance, though the eternal world has thrown its gates wide open 
that he may stand face to face with his own immortal condition. 

1149. "I have visited many planets and spheres, and find 
many of them to contain people much like yourselves. But you, 
my friends, can scarcely plead ignorance, and I wanted to say 
to you that you should be kind to all people and all things. 
Have yourselves prepared and be ready at all limes to lay down 
your earthly burdens, for you may not know, down to the last 
hour of your mortal career, when you will be called away from 
the earthly house of your tabernacle, for in an hour you think 
not of the 'son of man' shall meet and take you to ourselves 
into a beautiful world where the sun never sets. Whether it 
be I or some other, or hosts of others whom you shall meet, 
you will never meet other than the 'son of man,' for, in the 
boundless universe, whether low spheres or higher spheres, the 
only personages above the animal kingdom to be found are of 
the human race, and none other than men and women and chil- 
dren are there, and none other will meet you in any land or 
world or sphere. Therefore I say unto you again: Be you ever 
ready, for the son of man cometh in an hour you know not of. 
Although he who now addresses you is from a higher sphere, 
and you may not at first be met by such as I in degree, yet along 
the ages, as you climb the mountains of eternity, you will find 
and meet the son of man developed to such of the infinitude 
of conditions in whichsoever you may find him and her. My 
name is Kaliff." 

Denton's Benediction. 

1150. "Once more, my friends, we are most happy to meet 
you. This is somewhat an unexpected surprise. But we are 
preparing for something to come, and found this opportunity 
and let this phenomenal display from upper glory come among 
you for our experiment, and for you a sample preliminary of 
what we may be able to introduce to you before our medium 
quits the physical. 

(a) "May you dwell yet awhile in your 'tabernacles of clay' 
while we endeavor to reach your world with truth it so much 
needs. And when you be called away and we meet you over 
here, we will take you to where joy and peace and gladness 
and love and friendship and truth shall all abound with you in 
eternal youth, for pain and sickness and sorrow and gloom and 
despair and clouds and darkness and death and sighing and 
solemn farewells shall all flee away ere your rising sun of per- 



410 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

fection shall have reached his zenith in this beautiful world of 
light and eternal grandeur." 

Daniel O'Brien, 

1151. Our jolly Irish spirit, with whom the reader must 
now be well acquainted, having his form made up in the cabi- 
net, rushed forth to visibility of the circle, seized the trumpet, 
and, loudly as ever, spoke in repartee with various members 
of the circle, but in his inimitable Irish brogue, which this pen 
would spoil did it attempt to imitate, and the reader is left to 
mostly imagine himself an Irishman taking Daniel's sayings, 
fresh from the Green Island. 

Spirit: "And how do you all do to-night?" 

Circle: "All very well, Daniel." 

Spirit: Oi 'm glad uv that. Say, Pratt, and how do you 
do, Oi do' know?" 

Pratt: "Getting on pretty well, I guess." 

Spirit: "And Oi 'm glad again. Say, Mr. Secretary, that 
man Butler is a foine man, jist. He 's a great Irishman, indade 
he is, sur. He 's a man afther me own heart. He and Oi are 
both all the way from Cork. Oi loike that fellow. Say, do ye 
know some paple would run loike fun from their own shadow? 
Say, Mr. Secretary, do ye remember those two braves that let 
on loike they were spilin' for a foight and how they were spar- 
rin' at ache ither, and how the boys were urgin' 'em on, and 
how Brave tried to bluff Bravo, and Bravo would bluff back? 
And how they were goin' to ate ache ither alive jist, and 
pound ache ither into mince-meat, jist to make the atin' go 
aisier; and one of the boys hit Brave a little blow, and anither 
boy hit Bravo a light blow, and ache uv 'em thought the other 
hit 'em, and both uv 'em broke away from ache ither runnin' ; 
and the boys afther Brave, hollerin': 'Run, Brave, run; Bravo 's 
cumin'.' And the boys afther Bravo: 'Run, Bravo; Brave is 
cumin'.' And the boys followed right on till Brave and Bravo 
fell of exhaustion and were more than a mile apart. And Brave 
says: ' Where is Bravo?' And the reply: 'Gone the ither way/ 
And Bravo says: 'Where's Brave?' 'He's on tither side uv 
town, scared into fits, and he 's dyin' uv 'em, and shure it 's 
your trate, Bravo, down at Black Alley crossin'.' Say, Mr. Sec- 
retary, don't you remember that?" 

Secretary: "When I was a boy?" 

Spirit: "Yis, sur." 

Secretary: "Run, Douglass; Smedley 's coming?" 

Spirit: "That's it; that's it, me old boy. Ye 've got a 
great memory." 

Secretary: "Who told you about that old election day?" 



BEYOND TEE TAIL. 41 1 

Spirit: "Oi must go now. Good-night." And the spirit 
was gone and all was silent, and when shall we all meet again 
face to face with the spirit world? 

1151J. Some readers may be pleased to know that this 
play between Brave, Bravo, and the boys was actually enacted 
one election day at Salem, Washington County, Indiana, about 
fifty-five years ago, and the actors were named, respectively, 
Douglass and Sinedley, one a Whig and the other a Democrat, 
and when "in their cups" a little always got terribly brave. 

Again, some reader will call this foolishness, and wonder 
why spirits should not have on long faces and be always sing- 
ing "Hark, from the Tombs" in doleful dirge. But, dear reader, 
this anecdote was introduced here for a purpose: To illustrate 
two or three and perhaps six or seven vefy important lessons 
of spirit life and phenomena. In the first place, how did this 
spirit know of this occurrence at that long-time-ago election? 
How did he know that this secretary knew of it? None other 
of this circle ever knew anything about the matter. This spirit 
O'Brien was not there, nor ever on earth in a situation to have 
learned it. Then some spirit who did know must have told 
O'Brien, or else O'Brien read it on the secretary's mind. 

This may also serve to show that spirits when entered into 
spirit life are human still. But the principal object of the anec- 
dote may be to answer a conversation some of the circle had 
just before the seance, of the desire for young converts to any 
cause, and especially of some to Spiritualism, to break right 
out to organize and convert the world to "our cult," and on 
meeting "Mother Grundy" quail and "give up the ship" at once. 
How brave some people are until confronted with obstacles, 
real or imaginary, and many other purposes the reader will find, 
if he "don't give up the ship," may be answered by this anec- 
dote of the spirit of a son of Erin. 

Dr. Reed's Valediction. 

1152. Now comes Dr. Keed to the writing-table, and, in 
very rapid manner, writes his valediction in these words, to-wit: 

(a) "Friends, to-night we complete 'Beyond the Vail,' Part 
I. We desire to extend our thanks to all who have been instru- 
mental in helping us place this work before the world. The 
work is not as we planned it, but it is as good as we can pro- 
duce under the conditions furnished us. The task has been a 
greater one than you can comprehend. You have had to con- 
tend with bad weather and bodily ailments. But you have no 
conception of the adverse psychic conditions we have had to 
contend with. It has taken brave and loyal souls to withstand 
the strain and give vou what we have. 



412 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Effect of Inharmonious Conditions. 

1153. "Often I have persuaded spirits to accompany me to 
a seance, in order that you might be benefited by their experi- 
ences, but no sooner would they enter the seance-room than 
they would say: 'No, Doctor, I cannot come through the con- 
ditions furnished.' Their earth life had been so full of pain- 
ful experiences that they could not stand inharmonious condi- 
tions while in a materialized form. If revolutionary times are 
the times that try men's souls, seances of this kind are what 
try the souls of men out of the body. 

(a) "We feel that the medium deserves special thanks for 
his faithfulness. He has never failed us through sickness or 
health. [For the past ten days the medium had been quite 
afflicted with erysipelas, but went right on with the seances.] 
And I have been commissioned by thousands in the spirit world 
to extend to him their thanks for his allegiance. 

(b) "After the coming week it may not be my good pleas- 
ure to stand before you again, as 1 do to-night. Yet I want 
each and every one of you to feel that I will not forget you, 
and will visit you as often as my many duties will permit. 

(c) "We have given you the manuscript, and now it re- 
mains for you to see that it is properly placed before the world 
at no distant day. 

(d) "It is the wish of all interested in 'Beyond the Vail' 
that you so arrange matters that our medium shall reap some 
financial benefit from this work. In years to come he will need 
it more than anyone else in the circle. We have used his vital 
force to give you the work we have, and we feel that justice 
demands that we compensate him in a way that will make the 
remainder of his earthly life as pleasant as possible. 

1154. "We desire to put before the world another work, 
but will not undertake it until we are positive that we will 
have the best conditions it is possible for mortals to give. This 
work is like the friendly guide-post: it will point out, but can 
not lead the way. 

1155. "You have before you many varied experiences and 
can see how your life should be lived in order for you to enter 
the realms of bliss. 

1156. "My advice to you is to be true and extend the help- 
ing hand to your fellow-man. Throw the mantle of charity over 
all that is unsightly, and lead a life that will be an example for 
others to follow. May you never cease to commune with those 
who have passed 'beyond the vail,' and may the choicest bless- 
ings of your spirit friends be ever with you, is the wish of 

"Your friend, Dr. W. H. Reed." 



Beyond the Vail 



PART SECOND. 



1157. Written experiences of various spirits given by spir- 
its while in materialized visible form, set out in chapters, to- 
gether with a concluding chapter of miscellany. At times the 
spirit, while writing, also engaged in talking, but for the most 
part the speaking has not been brought forward. Therefore 
the reader may do well to follow the references back to the 
seance at which the Avriting was done. 



4 1 1 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

CONTENTS. 

Chapter I. 
Of Lorenzo Aber 1158 

Chapter II. 
Of Grace 1166 

Chapter III. 
Of Faith 1186 

Chapter IV. 
Of Dr. Eeed . . . ,1195 

Chapter V. 
Of Zelda 1211 

Chapter VI. 
Of Henry A. Lamb : 1219 

Chapter VII. 
Of Pike Allen 1229 

Chapter VIII. 
Of Emma Abbott 1231 

Chapter IX. 
Of Mrs. Wellington 1240 

Chapter X. 
Of Wesley Aber 1244 

Chapter XI. 
Of "Practical Charity," by Dr. Keed. 1251 

Chapter XII. 
Of "A Miser," as Dictated to and Written by Wesley Aber. .1261 

Chapter XIII. - 
Of Miscellaneous Matters 1271 

Appendix A. 
Analytical Exemplification of a Case Purporting to Demon- 
strate the Identity of a Spirit .1276 

Appendix B. 
Authentication — Sworn Statements 1296 

Appendix C. ' 
Ogon the Mason 1297 

Appendix I). 
Little Ruth 1298 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 415 

CHAPTER I. (280.) 

Lorenzo Aber, (44.) 

1158. Father to the medium, of some of his experiences in 
spirit life wrote thus, to-wit: 

Visits Lowest Spheres. 

1159. "I had been in spirit life a number of years before 
I visited the lowest spheres, and the scenes that I witnessed 
there have ever lingered in my memory. 

(a) "Through the guidance of a spirit who has been in 
spirit life many, many years, I reached the lowest or first sphere. 

(b) "My first impression was of a desert of dark night. All 
about me was impenetrable darkness, and, to add to the horror 
of the scene, I could hear c rsos :u.d u.-ssis all around me, but 
could see no one. 

(c) "After awhile my eyes became accustomed to the dark- 
ness, and I could see the poor wretches about me and pitifui 
sights met my eyes: poor, blear-eyed men and women who did 
not realize yet that they had passed out of the body. 

(d) "Some murderers were shrieking because they could 
not escape their victims. Do not think, friends, that their vic- 
tims were present, tormenting them. It was only their awak- 
ened consciences bringing before their sight their past sins. 

1160. "As my friend was telling them of some of the 
beauty of the spheres above them, the most of them answered 
his loving words with coarse laughter or ribald jests; but occa- 
sionally one would come near to the beautiful old man and 
listen attentively to ail he had to say. And I noticed, when 
one would do so, he would stop in his discourse and say a few- 
words to that one in a low tone. But one after another went 
away until only the few who had drawn closer remained. (1169.) 

1161. "To these few he talked with the greatest flow of 
eloquence I have ever heard from either the lips of mortals or 
spirits, lie told them how they came to be in such a dark place 
and pleaded with them to return to earth and try to win for- 
giveness for the sins they had committed while in the body. He 
told them that if the ones they had wronged were in spirit life, 
they could w r in forgiveness much easier. Some shook their 
heads at his w T ords. Others promised to do all he asked if he 
would only teach them the way. This he gladly agreed to do. 

(a) "I began to feel that i had seen enough of thai sphere, 
for awhile, at least, so my friend and I returned to my own 
sphere, and I asked him il he did not find il an irksome task 



416 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

to teach creatures of that class. And he replied that it gave 
him great joy to be able to render them assistance. 

1162. "He told me that he himself had once been one of 
the lowest of spirits, but through the goodness of another he 
had been brought to the light. But it seemed to me, at that 
time, to be almost impossible that a spirit who had risen to 
the higher spheres could ever have been on an equality with 
the base creatures we had just left, but such is the case. 
Through his unselfish work for others he had risen far above me. 

(a) "Friends, that was my first visit, but not my last. No, 
indeed. I visited the lower spheres very often." 



Infanticide. (120.) 

1163. A child that was murdered by its mother's own 
hands meets the mother in the lower spheres, and at last per- 
suades the mother to seek and find the light. (65.) 

1164. Lorenzo continues: 

(a) "And I remember one visit I made to the lower spheres 
shortly after my first, aud I will relate an incident of the same. 

(b) "I was walking around in a lonely spot when I heard 
terrible curses and screams, and 1 perceived a woman sitting on 
a large stone, rocking to and fro; and near by stood a beauti- 
ful little child. The child was not beautiful in features, but had 
such a beautiful spirit, aud the light that shone from it was 
very brilliant. 

1165. "It was talking to the woman, trying to assist her 
to rise above her present condition. And every time it would 
speak to her she would curse it and tell it to leave; that she 
would have none of it. And, from her talk, I learned that the 
child was her own, and that she had wantonly murdered it. 
But the little pleader was immovable, and the woman scorned 
and wanted to know if she would be haunted all through life 
with the face of that child. She wanted to know if the long 
night would never end. 

(a) "I thought I would try to assist the child in making 
her realize her true condition, but she would not listen to me 
at all. After several fruitless attempts, I withdrew. Header, I 
saw this woman years after in a higher sphere, and she told 
me that she had been brought there through the influence of 
her child. Lorenzo Abcr." 



BEYOND THE \ATL. 



417 




IxMFANTICIDE. 



H6a. 



BV 21 



418 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

CHAPTER II. (213.) 

Suicide and Its Results. (66.) 

11'66. The awful lesson of a clandestine marriage and a 
wonderful romance, though the picture of a real life as related 
in her own handwriting by a spirit using the nom de plume of 
Grace, and this is the writing, to-wit: (66 a.) 

(a) "I have been requested by Dr. Keed to relate my expe- 
rience in earth life and in spirit life, in order for you to draw 
comparison between the two. 

(6) "I wish to keep my full name a secret, as my mother 
is still living, and the recital to her of my sufferings would 
grieve her sorely. Therefore I shall give my Christian name, 
Grace." Here this spirit, talking in a whisper, said: "When 
you are done with the earth life, you will find me and who I 
am, for I shall meet you as you come over here, reveal to you, 
and then you will know." Then the writing continued of her 
childhood and youth to the age of twenty years: 

1167. "I was born and reared in a New England village. 
My father married quite late in life a woman many years young- 
er than himself, and I was the only child of the union. Early 
in life he had secured a finished education, and when his once 
ample fortune had disappeared, he turned his education to 
account by teaching, and for some years was the village 
school-master. 

(a) "I was always very studious and he encouraged me in 
every way in my studies, so that at the age of eighteen I had 
acquired an excellent" education. . 

(6) "My greatest fault, was the love of fine dress, and, al- 
though father had a very limited income, he managed to indulge 
me in many ways. 

(c) "Every summer our little village was crowded with 
city people, of moderate incomes, as a usual thing, who could 
not afford to spend their summers at a fashionable resort. But 
occasionally we would have wealthy people, tired of the crowd- 
ed resorts and in search of novelty or attracted by the wonder- 
ful curative power of our pure mountain air. 

(d) "I had a good musical education, and always took part 
in the village concerts and sang in the church choir. I pos- 
sessed the peculiar combination of light hair and dark eyes. 
In fact, my mirror reflected a very pleasing image, and instead 
of my parents trying to control my vanity, they encouraged it. 
Time went on until I was in my twentieth year. 



BfJYOXD THE VAIL. 



419 





The Beginning of an Awful Doom. (72.) 

11G8. "That summer brought to our village a handsome 

young man in the person of a young lawyer iu search of a quiet 
place to spend the season. After a successful winter at the 
bar, he found he had overworked himself, and his physician* 



420 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

prescribed rest in some quiet, out-of-the-way place. R. was 
very sociable and, being fond of music and a fine singer, we 
soon drifted together. At first we only exchanged a few words 
in regard to music and the cultivation of the voice. These lit- 
tle formalities grew into longer conversations. At last he 
asked permission to call on me at home. I granted his request 
with pleasure, and many happy hours we spent together in the 
old home. 

The Mother's Warning Unheeded. 

1169. "R. was a polished flatterer and I was eager for 
praise, and my mother noticed my infatuation for him before 
1 realized it myself. She remonstrated with me and tried to 
show the utter folly of my love for one in his station. Dear 
mother, with a foresight that is given to few, seemed to see 
that my love for him only meant sorrow for me. But, foolish, 
rebellious girl that I was, I would not listen to her warning 
and rushed headlong to my doom! In order to appear fair in 
the eyes of R., I forced my father to go far beyond his means 
to furnish me with the finer v I would have. 



Treachery Unobserved by the Confiding Victim. 



(83.) 



1170. "R. asked me to be his wife, and I was very happy, 
although he told me we would have to be married secretly on 
account of his father. He said his father was in ill health" and 
could not stand the shock of his marrying below his station. 
In a few years, he said, we could tell his father, and all would 
be well; and, poor fool that I was, I consented to the bane of 
civilization, a clandestine marriage! But then how beautiful 
the future seemed to me! In that glorious future I would have 
every wish granted. I would live in a beautiful home and have 
servants to do my bidding. 

The Last Night at Home. 

1171. "In my selfishness I had no thought for the dear- 
ones at home who had toiled and sacrificed for years in order 
that I might be happy; but during all eternity I shall not be 
able to efface from my memory my last night at home. It was 
late in the autumn, and the leaves were beginning to fall, cov- 
ering the ground with as many colors as Jacob's coat. Every- 
thing around me seemed sad but myself. As usual, after our 
simple tea was over, my father opened his worn Bible to read 
a chapter and offered a prayer before bedtime. For some (to 
me then) unaccountable reason, he asked heaven's blessing on 
my future welfare. Oh, how I longed to throw myself in hi* 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 421 

arms and tell him all, for I dearly loved my father! But the 
impulse was banished as quickly as it came, and I whispered 
to my conscience that I would care for my parents well when 
T became rich. And, bidding them good-night, I retired to my 
room to wait with patience until all should grow quiet, and T 
could slip away unnoticed. 

Leaving the Dear Old Home Forever. (93.) 

1172. "At last all was still, and, throwing a loose cloak 
over my dress, I slipped out at the back door. Though the 'still, 
small voice' whispered to me to return, I would not heed it, but 
finding R. waiting for me at the corner of the street with a 
light buggy, we drove to a nearby town, where I wanted that 
we be married, but he persuaded me to wait until we had 
reached the city, for, he said, we were 'already married in the 
eyes of God.' So we took the train for New York. 

1173. "When we reached the city I insisted on a marriage 
ceremony, and we were married, as I supposed, in a dingy lit- 
tle office that bore a justice of the peace sign on the door. But 
long afterward I learned that the quondam justice was the 
lowest kind of scoundrel and a friend to R. R. was very kind 
to me at first, and I was very happy. But after awhile he be- 
gan staying away from home, and when I questioned him about 
his absence, his ready excuse was his 'business.' And I knew 
that a lawyer's time is not his own, therefore I accepted his 
excuse without question. 

1174. "One morning he told me that he was going away 
on a business trip and might be away several weeks, and I en- 
treated him to allow me to accompany him, as it would be so 
lonesome to me there, with only the company of the servants. 
But he refused to take me. 

1175. "R. had been gone for perhaps an hour when a mes- 
senger boy came with a letter for me. I recognized R.'s hand- 
writing on the envelope, and tore it open with trembling fin- 
gers, and the words in that letter seared my soul as with a 
red-hot iron. T had never known real misery until that moment. 
His letter told me that he was going away to return no more, 
that I should never look upon his face again. He said that our 
marriage was a sham one, and, more bitter than all. he advised 
me to return to my father. Traitor that he was. to advise me 
to return to a home that I had left for him! 

Terrible Closing Scenes of a Life Whose Morning Was in Rainbow 

Shadows. (105.) 

1176. "I resolved, then and there, that I would never re 
turn to mv home until I had hunted R. to the ends of the earth. 



422 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

if need be, and made him acknowledge me as his wife. And, 
after a short time, growing calmer, I changed my morning dress 
for one more suitable for street wear, and left the house in 
the search, and first sought the office of the man who performed 
the marriage ceremony, but could get no trace of him or R., 
though searching for days. But all without avail. My stock 
of money was small, and after I had paid and dismissed the 
servants, it soon dwindled away. 

1177. "I then saw that I must seek work and a cheaper 
boarding-place, and went to the minister of the church that I 
was in the habit of attending, and laid my case before him, and 
asked his assistance, but he told me that he could do nothing 
for me unless I had good reference, and that was impossible 
for me to give. And, although I advertised in one of the lead 
ing dailies and tried the intelligence office for work, it was all 
unsuccessful because I could give no reference. And, worse 
still, I was frequently insulted on account of my pretty face. 
And I prayed to God to open the way for me for honest work, 
but my prayers were unanswered. And I parted with all my 
jew 7 els to satisfy the greed of my landlady. And when all had 
been sacrificed but my wedding-ring, and my landlady was 
threatening me with expulsion, I resolved to make one more 
effort for work, and, that failing, to then take my life. Friends, 
I could not lead a life of shame, and that was the only means 
of escape open to me. I walked all day seeking work, but could 
not find any. It was growing dark when I returned to my 
lodging-house. 

1178. "Oh, what an alternative! I went to my room and 
meditated for a long time. Finally I decided to sell my ring 
for enough money to purchase some drug to end my life. And 
I went and did sell my ring for enough chloroform to end my 
miserable existence. Friends, 1 trust you will never know what 
it is to be in a strange city without friends. But with the 
chloroform clutched tight in my hand I crept back to my room. 
T did not take it at once. T could not. Oh, how I longed to 
see the dear ones at home! But I felt that I had caused them 
sorrow enough, and I dared not let them know I had ended my 
own life, so 1 destroyed everything that I had left that would 
serve to identify my body, and inhaled the drug that would 
bring me the forgetfulness I so longed for. (R. V., 1617-1625.) 

1179. "No matter what may happen to yon, friends, do not 
be guilty of self-murder. I know that the sufferings of one 
who has murdered another are fearful when they awake to the 
full knowledge of their deed, but I do not think their anguish 
can exceed that of suicides when the awakening comes to them. 
However, my death was very peaceful. T felt a sinking sensa- 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 423 

tion, and then everything was a blank. How long this condi- 
tion lasted I do not know." 

(Reader, contemplate the scene at the beginning of this 
chapter as you peruse the following.) (137.) 

1180. "When my spirit awoke, 1 was standing in the room. 
On the bed lay an emaciated form of myself. Oh, the lines of 
suffering on that cold face! For a time 1 stood looking at my 
body. How free from care I felt! Then came a revulsion of 
feeling. I thought of what might have been, and wept bitter 
tears. Friends, doesn't it seem singular that a spirit should 
weep over its earthly life? Yet many of us do. 

1181. "With proper training I would have been a useful 
member of society. Now I was helpless as T thought the rain 
was, as it came down in torrents and beat the casement with a 
weird sound. Yet nothing could have been more weird than 
the scene within, a spirit weeping over its dead body! I wept 
until I felt relieved, and gradually the room faded from ray 
view and I seemed in a dim light. My conscience kept saying: 
'Oh, why did you take your own life?' until 1 was almost mad. 
My thoughts continually traveled back to my past life. How 
many things I found to condemn, and so few to praise! Oh, 
where was I? I had so often longed for solitude in some peace- 
ful place when I was experiencing so much trouble. Xow my 
solitude was complete. Yet it was distasteful to me. I could 
see now r that it would have been best for me to have humbled 
my pride and returned home. Friends, I shall not try to tell 
you of my sufferings (mental) during the first year of my life 
in the spirit world. You can have no conception of their depths. 

A Lady Spirit, Not Hie Son of God, Leads to Redemption^ 

(138.) 

1182. "At last a spirit from a higher sphere came to me 
and offered me assistance. Oh, how gladly I accepted it! She 
taught me to help myself by helping others. And my self- 
imposed duty is to impress homeless, friendless creatures as 
J once was, that self-murder is not the end of their sufferings, 
but the real beginning. Don't think that my progress has been 
rapid, for it has not. I have had many things to learn and 
many more to unlearn, since I began to progress. 

What Became of K.f (150.) 

1183. "I had been in spirit life only a short time when I 
began seeking for R. At last I reached him. and found him but 
a wreck of his former self. He was so changed by disease and 
suffering that I scarcely knew him. and I rejoiced In think that 



424 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

he was indeed suffering. For weeks and months I dogged his 
footsteps and tormented him all I could. I was not able to 
show myself to him, but I could impress him very strongly, and 
I did. His life was going out with consumption, and, after T 
grew to realize my position and his, I pitied him; but it was 
a long time before I could forgive him. 

(a) ''Friends, your likes and dislikes (156) do not leave 
you the instant you enter the spirit spheres, and it requires 
continued effort to banish a hatred you have nourished for 
months. And I felt that he had deprived me of all that was 
beautiful in life, and had even caused my death. 

Of Her Father, Her Home Now, Her Work, and Advice of Warning. 

(170.) 

1184. "My father came to spirit life a short time after 1 
did, and he has helped me in many ways. We often go to meet 
mother, although she does not realize that we are with her. 

1185. "My home in spirit life is very beautiful. I have 
been able to keep more than one young girl from leaving her 
home to go among strangers without the consent of father or 
mother, and I have kept many more from suicide. 

(a) "It is best, friends, to live out the allotted years of 
earth life. It would have been best for me, and I think it would 
be best for everyone. 

(o) "I have gradually outgrown the dark conditions that 
surrounded me at first, but the struggle has been long and bit- 
ter. Thanking you for your patience, I bid you good-night. 

(Signed) "Grace." 

And the white-robed spirit vanished from our sight. 



CHAPTER III. 

Failli. 

1186. An innocent victim of the curse of chattel slavery, 
and why an endless hell for her? Is this a case of justifiable 
suicide? Dictated by the spirit Faith to the spirit Wesley, who 
w T rote the dictation as follows: 

(a) "I have come to you to-night upon a strange mission. 
Dr. Reed, who is well known to me, has requested me to tell 
you of my sad earth life. It will be very painful to me, but, 
as I have been assured that it will be of great benefit to the 
world, I will endeavor to give you a brief outline of my life on 
earth and in spirit. 

1187. "I am of mixed blood. My mother was an octoroon 



BEYOND THE VAIL. A'lh 

and my father (the master) was a white man. My mother was 
one of the indulged upper servants, and my father had prom- 
ised her that he would give me free papers when I grew up, 
and, in the event of his death, make provision that would leave 
me free. 

The School-Days. 

1188. "I was a beautiful child and unusually bright for my 
age. My father had three daughters and two sons by his legal 
wife. He always seemed very fond of me, and, as a special 
favor, I was allowed to study with the other children. I was 
very ambitious, and outstripped the others in study of the lan- 
guages, and when the young mistresses (sisters) were sent 
away to Finstuc School, I was allowed to accompany them as 
maid. One of the girls, Hazel, and I were about the same age, 
and she took a great interest in me. I used to help her with 
her lessons. She used to say: 'Faith, if you were white, I 
could love you like a sister. In reality I was the fairer of the 
two, and the African blood only showed in my sleepy black 
eyes and soft, curly black hair. School-days were over, and, 
except poor me, all came home delighted. 

Sad Accident That Sealed Her Doom. 

1189. "We had been at home scarcely a year before the 
accident that deprived me of all hope in life occurred. My 
father was accidentally shot. I have been in spirit life many 
years, yet the recollections of that terrible time are as clear 
as if they had occurred to-day. It was a clear, frosty morning, 
in the fall of the year, and a number of gentlemen from neigh- 
boring plantations were going on a hunt. Early that morning 
I had gone into my father's library (I cannot, even now. call 
Mm my master) to ask permission to accompany Hazel <>n a 
visit to a school-mate. He was seated at a table writing when 
I entered. He looked up and asked what my errand was. 1 
told him and he said: 'Certainly, 'you can go.' I thanked him 
and started to leave the room when he suddenly asked: 'Faith, 
how old are you?' I replied that I would soon be eighteei 
He sighed, and said: 'Poor girl! you are growing so beautiful, 
and I must not procrastinate another day: I was puzzled at 
his words and asked him what he meant. And he replied thai 
he was 'thinking of a business matter that ought to be attended 
to at once/ And in a few short hours he was brought home 
in a dying condition. 

The Fatal Revelation. 

1190. "My mother at once betrayed her secrel and broughl 
down the vile hatred of her mistress, no1 only upon hei own 
head, but mv innocent self also. 1 cannot go over the details of 



426 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

the few weeks after my father's funeral, but my mother and I 
were sold to a low planter, more for revenge than for the 
money we brought, and this low, degraded brute had determined 
to compel me to become his mistress, and when I turned upon 
him in scorn, he ordered me tied to the whipping-post and given 
three hundred lashes. After that I was to be given to a brutal 
negro for a wife. 

In Solitude the Curtain Dropped at the Next D atoning. 

1191. "The pain of the lash was more than I could endure, 
and I swooned away. When I regained consciousness, I found 
myself in a pool of my own blood. I was so sore I could not 
move but with the most excruciating pain. I tried for hours 
to drag myself to the river bank, distant only a few yards. By 
degrees I gradually dragged nryself along, and, just as the day 
began to dawn, I rolled off the bank into the water. Oh, the 
blessed waters! Here, at last, was a panacea for all my trou- 
bles. I could feel myself sinking deeper and deeper, and the 
cool waters gently kissed my fever-flushed cheeks. I did not 
struggle, and my death was painless. 

Just on the Other Side. 

1192. "My surprise at finding that I still existed, though 
in a different form from that on earth, was great, for I had dis- 
carded the thought of another life, when I saw so much suffer- 
ing around me unrelieved. 

Bui That Brute— What of Him? 

1193. "How I hated the brute that had purchased me, and 
how I strove to revenge myself! And I have not forgiven him 
yet, though I have tried to do so. He inhabits a much darker 
sphere than I, and ages will elapse before he will see the light. 

Her Beautiful Home and Mission, and the Slave-Dealer's "Outer 

Darkness." 

1194. "You should see the beautiful home the once 
despised slave has in the spirit world. Here we have neither 
master nor slave. My mission is to try to help those to pro- 
gress who were guilty of selling their own flesh and blood. 
Years have passed since many such have entered spirit life, 
and yet they are still in dark, dark places, for their deeds were 
so dark, and the suffering inflicted upon others was so horrible, 
that ages must pass ere their souls receive a rav of blessed 
light." 



BEYOXU THE VAIL. l^ 

CHAPTER [-V. (202.) 

Where Is Hell?— Where Is Heaven? (27£.) 

1195. Dr. Eeed at last heard of the sad condition of an 
old school-mate and found that so low had she fallen, and the 
dark conditions of fallen men and women all about her painted 
the condition of hell upon his mind so vividly that he ases the 
scene as an answer to Where is hell? But this is the writing, 
to-wit : 

1196. "Where is heaven? and Where is hell? are two ques- 
tions that have puzzled human beings for countless ages, and in 
the iirst days of the twentieth century this question is noi sal 
isfactorily answered for all the human family. Every day I heal 
the heart-rending cry, when someone is laid beneath the sod: 
4 Oh, what would I not give to know that there is a hereafter, 
and that my loved one is happy!' And the Church has been 
endeavoring to answer this question, but has been unsuccessful, 
for the answer of the Church will not satisfy its own mem- 
bers, much less the inquiring minds outside of its ranks, when 
the hour of death approaches. And now, friends, I will tell 
you of two experiences I have had in a very short time past 
that I think will answer these questions for you. 

Of His Old School-Mate. (236.) 

1197. "A short time ago an old school-mate of mine passed 
to spirit life. As hoy and girl we had been closely associated, 
and she was my boyish ideal of all that was good and beautiful. 
The years passed on and we grew into manhood and woman 
hood, and she went with her family to a distani State, and T 
to a neighboring city to study my profession. For awhile we 
ecu-responded with each other, hut after awhile onr letters 
ceased altogether. 

1198. "I learned that she had been betrayed by one thai 
she had loved, not wisely, but too well, and that i Me latter 
years of her life were passed with the social outcasts, the fallen 
women. And when I heard thai she had passed to this side <>: 
life, I forgot everything but her pure girlhood, for she had 
been so noble and self-sacrificing in those bygone days thai I 
was anxious to see her once more. 

To Such Low Estate She Had Fallen, 

1199. "Oh, friends, it is almost impossible for me to de- 
scribe to you the surroundings I found her in! I have visited 
many dark places in spirit life, but I have never visited a more 



428 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

repulsive place than the one she was in. To me everything 
seemed to be in a semi-light, but the dwellers there told me 
that everything was dark to them. I was surrounded by fallen 
men and women, and I might say that the men had fallen lower 
than the women, and were in more horrible misery. Many had 
loathsome diseases while they were in the earth life, and they 
still believed that they had them where they were, and the 
friend of my youth, after years of depravity, had sunk as low 
as the lowest. I was shocked at the change in her, and if I had 
not had the clear seeing of a spirit, I would not have recog- 
nized her at all. I felt that I must do all I could to help her 
rise above the low condition she was in. And I instructed her 
the best I could how to elevate herself and others ; but, friends, 
I am afraid it will be a long time before she reaches happiness. 

A Place of Torment, hut Not a Literal Hell. 

1200. "Friends, this was a place of torment or hell, if you 
choose to call it by that name; while a millionfold more torture 
than the hell of the orthodox because the torture was mental 
instead of physical, yet it was not literally hell, for, while 1 
was there I was not in torment, though I did not feel excess- 
ively happy, for who could be happy and see spirits in such 
awful surroundings? It was only momentary unhappiness, for 
I knew that they were torturing themselves, and if they so de- 
sired they could rise above their loathsome conditions and find 
themselves in higher spheres. I will not dwell on this dark 
scene any longer, but will pass on to the bright picture I prom- 
ised you, or heaven, as I choose for the time to call it. 

A Birthday Party among the Children in the Spirit World — and There 

Is Heaven. 

1201. "Little Nellie, as a dear little friend in spirit life 
('Rending the Vail,' 1163), who a short time ago celebrated her 
birthday in heaven. Nellie was so anxious for the doctor to be 
present, and I was indeed so pleased to attend that I accepted 
the tot's invitation and went with her to the little angels 1 party. 

A Beautiful Parle. 

1202. "Now, my friends, I am going to ask you to draw a 
little on your imagination, just a little, in order that you may 
comprehend the scenes I am going to describe to you. Just 
imagine yourselves in a park similar to Hyde Park, only a thou- 
sand times more beautiful. Beautiful flowers everywhere, 
whose fragrance was intoxicating; grand fountains, whose fall- 
ing waters reflected all the colors of the rainbow; and music 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 429- 

as far above the music of earth as the music made by au expert 
violinist is above the music of a bass drum. 

1203. "In the center of the spacious grounds stood an edi- 
fice of beautiful white stone — I say stone for the lack of a bet- 
ter term — but it looked like the white streaks you see in onyx. 
It had the same beautiful semi-transparent look as onyx. This 
building was one of the homes or schools for little folks, and 
oh, how glad and happy they were! It was not like an orphans 1 
asylum, as some of you may think, for the little ones were ten- 
derly cared for and taken to their earthly homes very often. 
Little Nellie kindly escorted me around among her little friends 
and introduced me to them all. Some of them I had met before 
and had helped them to reach their friends and relatives on 
earth. 

1204. "Now, friends, open your eyes wide and be prepared 
to exclaim, <Oh!' for the little ones insisted on my engaging in 
their beautiful instructive games. I know I cut a sorry figure 
among those little darlings, joining in their marches and dances 
— yes, dances, for, friends, we do dance in the spirit world, if 
we feel so inclined. 

1205. "Oh, how I wish you could have seen the teachers 
of those little ones enjoy themselves, and could you have lis 
tened to their words of wisdom! 

(a) "I explained the nature of the work we are engaged 
in to one of them [Zelda, see next chapter], and extracted a 
promise from her to attend our seances and give us a few 
thoughts for the book. 

(b) "Friends, this was indeed heaven, yet it was only a con- 
dition. But many enter spirit life in such low conditions that 
it takes centuries for them to reach this degree of purity. 

1206. "The doctrine of redemption has been taught too 
long on your earth. Why not teach mankind that each one 
must bear his own burdens and be responsible for his own 
misdeeds ?" 

But the scene changes to a dismal death in a tenement- 
house on earth. 

Ruth, a Pupil and Messenger of Zelda's School (1211.; 

1207. Keed continues: "While we were at the height of 
our enjoyment a messenger named Euth came to me and asked 
me to go with her to a death-bed on earth, and, leaving little 
Nellie with her companions, I hastened with little Ruth to the 
earth to the death-bed of a little child which lay dying in a ten- 
ement district of one of your large cities. (See 1298.) 

120S. "Friends, what a contrast between this plare and 
the one I had just left! (1202.) There all had been bright and 



430 



BEYOND THE VAIL, 




RUTH,* 
A pupil and messenger of Zelda's school. 



(1207.) 
(1211.) 



beautiful; here everything was dark and squalid. On a pallet 
of filthy rags the little one was gasping for breath. On the 
rickety table burned a flickering light, the broken panes in the 
window were stuffed full of rags, and a keen wind was blow- 
ing, yet there was no fire in the room. A boy, apparently about 
fifteen years of age, sat watching his little sister die. He had 
been reared in an atmosphere that had throttled every good 
impulse he may have had, and he sat there in stolid silence, 
seemingly with no thought of pity for the suffering child. Her 
breath grew fainter and less painful as we brought our influ- 
ences closer to her, and, just as she ceased breathing, a 

1209. "Drunken woman staggered into the room and want- 
ed to know if Peg had quit squalling yet? How thankful I was, 
friends, that Peg was beyond the reach of that wicked woman! 

-See Appendix D, paragraph 1298. 



BEYOND THE JAIL. 43 [ 

{a) "Folding my arms around the little spirit, Ruth and I 
journeyed back to the spirit spheres. 

(b) "It took a long time for our little charge to understand 
where she was. She kept begging us not to take her back to 
'mam,' she liked to stay with us so much better. 

1210. "I saw her just the other day. She lias grown to be 
so beautiful! The hungry look has left her face and she is very 
happy in her spirit home. She is Ruth's especial charge until 
she grows stronger, and Ruth has named her Crystal." 



CHAPTER V. 

Schooling Spirit Children. 

1211. Zelda, a teacher of one of the schools in spirit life, 
while standing in white attire before the circle, made the fol- 
lowing writing, to-wit: 

(a) "'Good-evening, friends. I say 'friends' because all are 
friends who are working to better the human family. 

(b) "Dr. Reed requested of me some time ago to pay you 
a visit (1205), and, in obedience to his request, I am present to 
tell you, in my imperfect way, of my work in spirit life. (1205 a.) 

1212. "My mission is to teach the little ones who come to 
us in such great numbers from the earth plane how to grow 
wise in the spirit spheres. 

(a) "I have been in spirit life so many years thai 1 have 
no ties on the earth plane. 

(b) "I am called Zelda in the spheres, and this name will 
suffice while I visit you. 

(c) "This is my first visit to earth for many years. As m\ 
work lies far beyond yours, I have no desire to visit this plane, 
and would not be here to-night if the good Doctor (Reed) had 
not requested me to give you something in regard to the work 
I am engaged in. He tells me that a simple recital of my work 
may be very instructive to you. 

' (d) "I had been in spirit life a long time before I was taken 
to the home I am now in to help teach the little ones. 

1213. "At first I was one of their lower or under teachers, 
as you call them on earth; and through years of teacher's work 
I have risen to be one of the highest teachers. [Of the juven- 
ile schools.] 

(a) "We take the little ones as they come to ns from your 
earth plane and train them to be useful in this sphere. 

(b) "We find some who will make good messengers to the 
earth, and we train them for that. (See Little Ruth, L207/I 
Others are more adapted to visit the higher spheres and l»rinu r 



432 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 




BEYOND THE VAIL. 433 

knowledge to us that is of inestimable value. (See Lit He Nellie, 
R. V v 1163.) 

1214. "By the way of parenthesis, let me add: If you will 
try. to realize that the inhabitants of the spheres above you are 
only human beings shorn of their earthly bodies, you can com- 
prehend all I am going to tell you. There are spirits in count- 
less numbers who are higher than I, and we arc ;is hungry for 
knowledge from them as you are to hear from us. To illustrate: 

1215. "Not long ago we were puzzled to know how to in- 
struct some of our higher pupils. And again I will say that 
the age of the pupil has nothing whatever to do with its advance- 
ment. In fact, we lose sight of time, as you count it on your 
plane. We therefore sent one of our little messengers to one 
of the higher spheres, and they, in turn, sent out a messenger. 
And in due course of time, as you say. we received the desired 
information. 

First Disposition of tlir Little Spirits* 

1216. "The little ones who come to us direct from the 
earth plane are placed in the preparatory and taken care of by 
those who have charge of that work, and by the other schol- 
ars. These kind spirits take them to visit those who are near 
and dear to them, both in the spirit spheres and on earth. In 
this way they are not only able to comfort those who are griev- 
ing for them, but are thus taught to go and return by them- 
selves and aid others in doing the same. 

1217. "We use no text-books in the schools of spirit life. 
but through the power of our minds we are able to place !»<• 
fore our students pictures of any subject we wish in explain. 
A spirit Avho passes into the spirit spheres before ii has reached 
maturity is best taught by instructive games. 

Teaching Music. 

1218. "We have a system of music thai far surpasses the 
music of your earth, and we only use such ;is will awaken ili«' 
highest aspirations of the soul. We teach our pupils anything 
inregard to harmonious sounds; then, if they desire to make 
it their mission to return to the earth plane to inspire mop 
tals to compose music, they attend what you would call 
conservatories." 



BV —28 



434 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Experience of Henry A. Lamb. 

1219. For portrait and biography, see "Beyond the Vail," 
596-604. And thus did this spirit write, to- wit: (623.) 

Architecture, Schooling, Music. 

(a) "I have promised my mother to write you of my expe- 
riences in the spirit world, though, as many of you know, I 
have only been here a short time. I left the earth life and a 
fond, loving mother before I had reached the noon of life. 

1220. "The greater part of my time has been spent with 
my mother. I have tried in every way to allay her grief, yet 
I have found time to see much of interest to me in the new 
spheres in which I am placed. I was very unhappy when I en- 
tered spirit life, not on account of anything I had done or left 
undone, but because my mother was in such deep grief for me. 
My mother and I had always been so near each other, and my 
unexpected passing away had left her broken-hearted. The tie 
that had bound us so closely in the earth life was not severed 
by my death, and I was very unhappy when I saw my mother's 
deep grief. If mother were happy. I would have everything to 
make me happy. 

1221. "In the earth life (636) I was passionately fond of 
music, and had many cherished plans in regard to it that I was 
unable to carry out; but in this life I am not hampered in any 
way. Therefore I had only been here a short time when I again 
took up the study of music. In the spirit world we have the 
advantage over those in the earth life: the hours you are com- 
pelled to spend in repose we can spend in study. 

(a) "It seems that I had attracted many spirits around 
me in the earth life that were musical, and my spirit sister was 
among them. And when mother would sink into slumber, she 
and father would coax me to go away with them, and I soon 
noticed that the very air seemed permeated with music. All 
was perfect harmony. The very flowers breathed love songs to 
each other, soft, melodious sounds that charmed me. 

(Jb) "Finally my sister persuaded me to go with her to 
see her music-master, and I don't know how I shall be able to 
tell you of that first music lesson in spirit life. 

1222. "We entered a large building (636) of a style of archi 
tecture so different from anything you have with you that 1 
am afraid I shall be unable to give you even a vague descrip- 
tion of it. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 435 

(a) "It resembled the picture often seen of ancient (I reek 
architecture, and was built of very large blocks of crystals. 

(b) "A soft, beautiful light, similar to the light of a glow- 
worm, seemed to shine through the stone. 

(c) "The interior defies description. It was furnished lux- 
uriously in Oriental splendor. 

(d) "The air was full of the odor of some delicate white 
flower. The entrance hall was carpeted with a carpet of cream- 
colored background over which trailed delicate green vines and 
bright-hued fiowers. 

ie) "A. broad staircase led from this room to the floor 
above and was carpeted with the same pattern of carpet as that 
in the reception -hall. 

(/) "A light came from above that made the staircase look 
like burnished silver. As we ascended the stairs I saw rhat 
the light came from the most magnificent window of stained 
glass I have ever seen. 

(g) "This window represented the transition of a beauti- 
ful young girl. My sister told me she was the teacher's daugh- 
ter. When we reached the landing I stood and gazed at the 
beautiful window, it was so different from anything I had ever 
seen on earth. It looked more like some beautiful transparent 
painting than a window of glass. 

Studio. (llli.) 

1223. "When done drinking in the beauties of this win- 
dow scene, I followed my sister into the studio. I will not at- 
tempt to describe the studio. It is so far beyond my powers 
of description that you would only get a distorted picture of 
it if I did. 

1224. "The master came forward eagerly to meet us and 
gave us a most cordial welcome. He was a tall man, with snow- 
white hair and beard and had such beautiful, expressive browu 
eyes. He was clothed in a garment of soft purple cloth. 

1225. "My sister walked over to a stand and picked up a 
violin. Oh, mother! if you could just hear her once, all your 
grief would vanish. As I sat listening to the sua ins of thai 
exquisite music, I longed for you to see her. the young girl in 
all her purity, her snow-white garments in such contrast t.» 
the purple robes of the old man, with the soft mellow lighl on 
her beautiful upturned face! 

1226. "The master came and addressed himself to me, and 
asked me if I wished to continue my musical studi.-s. and offered 
me his assistance, and I gratefully accepted his proffered aid. 
and i determined to work hard. ami. if possible, to go to mother 
and soothe her with music thai is so superior to earthly music 



436 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 









BEYOXD THE TAIL. 437 

that the very sound of it will transport her beyond the griefs 
of earth. These lessons, begun at the most trying time in my 
spirit life, have been an endless source of comfort to me. 

1227. "When our mother is ill, my sister and I come with 
a few chosen friends and play our sweetest music. Your world 
is full of music, but you must become more spiritual before 
you can catch the sweet strains. After we are perfected in 
music in the spirit world, it is our duty to return to earth and 
aid those who are striving to become musicians. 

1228. "I have also visited many magnificent play-houses 
since I came to spirit life, but none have made the impression 
on me that the music-master's home did. Not that they are a 
whit less beautiful, but I presume I have become accustomed to 
seeing beautiful homes in spirit life." 



CHAPTER VII. 

Dementia. (B. V., 673.) 

1220. As his experience, Pike Alley wrote thus, to- wit: 

(a) "I came here at the earnest solicitation of one of the 
members of your cabinet band. 

(b) "While on earth I was so unfortunate as to lose my 
mental balance and was confined for some time in one of your 
insane asylums, and for this reason I have been asked to tell 
you what effect this had on my spirit when I awoke to conscious- 
ness in the other world. 

1230. ''! do not know the exact date of my passing out; 
neither do I know how long I had been in spirit life when my 
mental vision became clear; but, judging from others who were 
as severely afflicted as myself, I presume it must have been for 
some time. 

(a) "When T first regained full control of my mentality, I 
found myself in a beautiful chamber surrounded by odorous 
flowers. Sweet strains of music seemed to float to me from 
a band in the distance. I was all alone in this beautiful room, 
reclining on a downy conch, and at first I dared not stir for 
fear it was some heavenly dream and I would awaken and find 
myself on earth. 

1231. '"While thinking thus, my angel wife glided into the 
room. 1 Avas sure then this must be a dream, for I thought she 
must be in heaven. She advanced to my couch and gently 
smoothed the hair from my brow, and murmured: 'Dear, I am 
so glad you have awakened!' In my joy I cried oul : O darling. 
tell me where I am, and that this is no dream.' She then told 
me of my passing away and that 1 had been cared for bj wise 



438 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

spirits in that hospital until my spirit was able to care for it- 
self, and now that I had fully awakened T must do something 
to elevate myself and others. 

1232. "As i had no desire to return to the earth plane, I 
counseled with the spirits who have this kind of work in hand, 
and decided to remain with them and share their labor, believ- 
ing ibis to be the most efficient way of aiding my fellow men. 

(a) "It was some time before they gave me charge of a 
patient, and my first case was a most pitiable one. He had 
gone insane early in life over religion, and, being strong phys 
ically, had lived to a good old age. While his brain was dis- 
eased, his spirit had developed none at all; therefore it took us 
a long time to get him to realize his condition. 

(b) "He had tried for years to make some human sacrifice 
to his nature, and this murderous feeling had taken entire pos- 
session of his mind; waking or sleeping, he was never at rest. 

(c) "But at length his spirit began to enlarge gradually, 
until, after a number of years, he is now a very strong spirit. 
Understand, friends, I am not one of the physicians in charge 
of this work; I am only a nurse and an under one at that; but 
I am very happy in the knowledge that I am able to aid spirits 
who come to spirit life in such plights. 

1233. "Such spirits as have only been unbalanced mental- 
ly for a short time of course make rapid progress. And, as 
soon as entirely recovered, they seek companions and surround- 
ings congenial to them. Any crime they may have committed 
while in possession of their mental faculties they must suffer 
for. Some of the physicians, or teachers we call those in charge 
of this work, have been in this hospital for hundreds of years. 
They teach advanced si>irits to visit your insane asylums, and 
thus relieve manv distressed souls. 

(Signed) "Pike Allen." . 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Experience of an Actress. 

1234. Emma Abbott wrote: (719.) 

(a) "I am Emma Abbott, and have been invited here for 
the purpose of giving you an insight into the spirit lives of 
those in my line of work, and I am to tell you of the magnifi- 
cent play-houses and music-halls of the spirit world. 

(b) "Now, my orthodox friends, do not raise your hands 
in holy horror at the bare mention of play-houses in the spirit 
world, for we have them here in abundance, and you cannot 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 439 

know (for you have never experienced it) what a source of 
pleasure they are to those who spent the happiest years of their 
earth life on the stage, to be able to continue their work after 
crossing the river Styx. But I now write of my personal expe- 
rience on the subject. 

1235. "At my transition I was met by a score of old famil- 
iar faces, as my spirit freed itself from my pain-racked body 
and was taken to an abode of rest, but the novelty of being in a 
strange and beautiful country soon wore away, and my thoughts 
turned to my earth life, and I longed for the old life on the 
stage, for the lights, the music, and applause had grown to be 
a part of my existence. 

1236. "This desire was scarcely formulated before some 
old friends stood by my side as if conjured up by my longings, 
and offered to escort me to one of the many places of amuse 
ment and instruction in the spirit world. And I am at a loss 
how to tell you of my first visit to a spirit play-house. My 
soul had often drunk in the beauties of this kind on earth, but, 
contrasting them in the magnificence of the buildings here, they 
seem small and meager. 

(a) "This building was somewhat after the style of one 
vast amphitheater. 

(&) "The grounds surrounding it were filled with tropical 
shrubs and flowers, and the tinkling of the many musical foun- 
tains filled the air. 

(c) "The stage settings were superb masterpieces of art 
indeed. 

1237. "The plays were nice, and all of an elevating charac- 
ter, for the purpose not only of elevating spirits in the audi- 
ence who need elevating, but for the purpose of educating the 
participators in the purest line of stage work, in order that 
they may impress their co-workers on earth with beautiful 
ideals. 

1238. "How many races of men meet one in these vast 
audiences of spirit life! Some drawn hither by a natural love 
for the obscene; others have come hither to accompany friends 
of low degree who need elevating, realizing that they must 
come with them many times, as but little can be accomplished at 
one trial. 

(a) "The work of reforming those who have inherited 
brutish tastes and depraved appetites must 0! aecessity be 
very slow; and it often takes an ordinary lifetime to rid one- 
self of a habit acquired in a few years. 

(b) "It is for this reason that people of immoral aatures 
are most benefited at once upon entering the spirit world. 
Their surroundings are often better, but they carry with them 
their old earth desires." 



440 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

1239. AYhile this spirit was writing, she also was in con- 
versation with various members of the circle in which, among 
her sayings, were these, to-wit: 

{a) "I learned this mode of writing by watching others 
here and by practice. 

(b) "This is a grand work you mortals are trying to do 
here. Yes, Mrs. House, I know of that picture of me that you 
have at your home, and I feel thankful toward you that you 
have felt and manifested such interest toward me. 

(c) "Mr. Secretary, kind sir, this closes my effort at writ- 
ing for the present, though I may be permitted to write you 
again before this work is closed up. I wish you, sir, to ask 
this indulgent circle to accept my thanks to all who have en- 
gaged to make this glorious privilege possible for me, and the 
kindness to endure while I whisper a word from my immortal 
home to denizens of your world who may hereby be induced to 
catch some stray beams shining through the vail from the beau- 
tiful, awaiting home beyond." 



CHAPTER IX. 

Cremation. 

1240. Defended by the spirit Mrs. Wellington in her own 
writing, as follows: 

(a) "Some time ago 1 promised to tell you what effect the 
cremation of my cast-off body had upon my spirit. 

(o) "To me dying was only a change from the world of sor- 
rows to one of infinite bliss, and when the summons came for 
me to come up higher, I was ready and anxious to make the 
journey. 

(c) "It was my desire that my body should be cremated as 
a sanitary measure. I knew it to be best, and I felt that it 
would be better for my spirit. Now I know it was best. 

1241. "When my material body began dissolving from the 
intense heat, my spirit felt so much lighter. Fire has long been 
known and recognized by the Eastern nations as a great puri- 
fying agent. To them it is the source of all life. I know by 
experience that it frees the spirit much quicker than any other 
means of dissolution. 

1242. "Embalming is a heathenish custom and should be 
abandoned, for the spirit of man is never entirely untrameled 
until his physical body is dissolved, and I cannot understand 
why cremation strikes such a terror to many hearts. It is only 
a swift means of dissolving the body. You believe it best to 
cremate the bodies of animals for sanitary benefit, and, while 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 441 

you admit that man is also an animal, you shrink from cremat- 
ing his dead body. 

Cremation Makes the Spirit Feel Light and Buoyant. 

1243. "I have never been idle for a day or an hour in the 
spirit world, and it has been a source of continuous delight for 
me to be able to help those who stand so much in need of help 
from spirits more advanced than themselves." 



CHAPTER X. 

1244. An explanation of what is meant by the expressions 
of various degrees of darkness, by the spirit Wesley, to-wit : 

(a) "A great many experiences have been given in these 
seances by spirits who belonged to orthodox churches while in 
the physical form, and I feel that their explanations of the con- 
ditions they encountered upon passing into spirit life have not 
been as clear as they should have been; therefore I take the 
liberty of making a few explanations on this matter. 

(&) ''Many who come to you say they were in the dark when 
they entered spirit life. By that they mean that their spiritual 
sight was undeveloped. 

1245. "The majority of persons belonging to the Church 
think that a belief in the remission of sins is all that is necessary 
for their salvation. Thus they have depended for years upon 
someone else to bear the burden of their misdoings until they 
have become as helpless as a babe. 

But a Few Believe in Practical Deeds. 

1246. ' k On the other hand, a small minority, whose innate 
goodness has risen above their creeds, believe that it is neces 
sary for them to assist their fellow-man all that lies within 
their power, in addition to accepting Christ as their Savior; 
and they go forth and help their needy neighbors and bring 
comfort to sorrowing hearts by practical deeds. But those ex- 
pecting an orthodox heaven are in that much disappointed, for 
they find everything in that regard so different from what they 
had always believed that it is small wonder that they are dis- 
appointed. Yet everything is so beautiful around them that 
their disappointment is of short duration and their helpful ways 
of the earth life begin to assert themselves and they are anx- 
ious to uplift their less fortunate friends. 

An Example of Practical Deeds. 

1247. "I know a spirit in one of the higher spirit spheres 
who while on earth, was a devout church-member, but in addi 



442 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

tion to this he was a very charitable man. He felt that the 
earth life is the place to begin to enjoy heaven; therefore, when 
he laid aside the cumbersome form of flesh, a beautiful reward 
awaited him. 

(a) "I asked him if he was disappointed when he reached 
the spirit life, and I think I can explain his meaning best by 
using his own words. (See 548.) 

His Transition. 

1248. "He said: 'I shall ever remember my first sensa- 
tions when I awoke in the spirit world. I had been sick for a 
long time, and my physician gave me no hope of recover}'. As 
I had made my peace with God, I felt prepared to answer the 
summons whenever it would come. And it came very unex- 
pectedly about one midnight hour. As it came I saw many 
around my bedside that had been dead for years; and, as they 
joined in an old-time religious hymn, I naturally thought them 
to be a part of the angelic hosts that awaited my coming. Af- 
ter telling my friends of this, I sank into a peaceful slumber. 

On Awakening Beyond. (557.) 

1249. " 'When I regained consciousness, imagine my sur- 
prise when I found this was heaven. My ideas of heaven were 
completely overthrown, but I had to acknowledge to myself 
that this was more beautiful than the heaven I had dreamed of. 

(a) " 'I was anxious to see God, but I soon found that my 
mind was finite, and I was still unable to grasp the infinite. 
And my old habits of earth began to assert themselves, and I 
looked around for work that I might do. 

(b) " 'It was then that I realized how distasteful the for- 
mer heaven I had pictured would have been to me. 

As Usual, the Holy Ghost Is a Spirit Friend. 

1250. " 'An old friend told me that he was interested in 
helping lower spirits to better conditions and asked me to join 
him in his work. T did so and have been striving to help them 
ever since. That is why 1 am here now and anxious to awaken 
the spiritual sight of those spirits and have them see heaven 
as it really is. 

(a) " 'I have fully realized that the former heaven of my 
dreams was only a vivid picture drawn by our forefathers.' 

"Wesley." 



BEYOND TEE VAIL. 443 

CHAPTER XL 

Neither Are All Who Call Themselves Spiritualists in Happy 

Conditions. 

1251. Exemplified by Dr. Reed thus: 

(a) "Friends, a great many people who call themselves 
Spiritualists think' that all who accept the truth of Spiritual- 
ism must necessarily be happy in another life. This idea is 
wrong, for many who call themselves Spiritualists are really 
not Spiritualists in the true sense of the term, but are spiritists. 

(0) "Because you accept the truth of Spiritualism does not 
make you a Spiritualist. No, indeed! You must lead a spiritual 
life or your reward in spirit life will be very scant. Many are 
forced to accept the truth of spirit return through evidence that 
they cannot dispute. The proofs of future life were so mani- 
fold that it was impossible for them to deny. Therefore they 
thought they must be Spiritualists. I have witnessed the en- 
trance of a number of such persons into spirit life, and their 
disappointment was as great as that of any creed-bound sub- 
ject I have ever seen. 

Charity — Practical vs. Professed. 

1252. "I remember distinctly the transition of a lady who 
had called herself a Spiritualist while in the body. She was a 
prominent woman in her town, and when she investigated Spir- 
itualism and found the truth of its genuineness, she entered 
into the society work with great zeal. Not because she could 
do a great good, but because she saw a splendid opportunity 
to make herself known. 

(a) "Being prominent in the society, she of course re- 
ceived manv invitations to attend circles and seances, and she 
always accepted such invitations and reveled in the descrip- 
tions her spirit friends would give her of their beautiful homes 
in spirit life, and she soon began to think that she too. must 
have as brilliant a home as they. 

(&) "But she was selfish to the core, and cared naught for 
the advancement of any but herself. When called upon to fi- 
nancially aid a medium in distress, she would asfe why their 
spirit friends did not aid them, forgetting that 

1253. "The currency of the spirit world is good deeds, good, 
kindly thoughts, and would not bo accepted in the material 
world in pavment for the necessaries of life. And. loo. six- for 
o-ot the comfort that had been broughl to her when her heart 
was torn and bleeding from the loss of one who had been ven 
dear to her. Her answer, as she was fond of quoting, was: 



444 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(a) " 'Charity begins at home,' meaning, of course, that she 
must have her own desires satisfied ere she gave to another. 
This, however, was a sorry subterfuge, for 'Charity beginneth 
at home' has a far different meaning. It means 

1254. "Charity begins within your own soul and radiates 
outwardly. But she went on shutting her eyes to the good she 
might have done and dazzling them with the imaginary beau- 
ties of her spirit home. And mediums who had been faithful 
instruments in the hands of the spirit world were allowed to 
suffer for the necessaries of life, while she had a well-filled 
purse at her disposal. Certainly she was a fluent talker, and 
when speaking on the rostrum, would dilate on the beauties of 
the spirit world and of the rich reward that the mediums would 
receive on entering spirit life. And many have listened and 
thought how good she was. Friends, kind words are right in 
♦their places and heal many wounded hearts, but if you will 
excuse the very common expression, 'It takes money to buy 
bread.' 

1255. "And at last the time for her transition arrived, and 
she passed away very peacefully, and her friends thought that 
her reception in spirit life must have been a most beautiful 
scene; but, my friends, it was not, and her disappointment was 
frightful to witness. She had a grand home pictured for her 
self, but instead she found a hovel. 

1256. "She had the knowledge while in the body of future 
existence in another life, but had not put this knowledge to 
good use. She had possessed abundant means, but had selfishly 
withheld from the needy. How often had she attended funerals 
of the poorer members of her society, and, knowing the living 
were in need, had only given them honeyed words to help them 
along in the straggles of the earth life. And higher spirits must 
now help her. She had wasted the hours of her earth life, and 
left behind her a fortune that would do mankind no good; and 
now she was in a world where you are rated for what you are, 
and not for what you seem. 

1257. "Spiritualists who have the knowledge of the fu- 
ture life cannot be too careful how they use it. Words of love 
and appreciation are dear to all, and, when they are your only 
stock in trade, you should give unsparingly, but there are times 
when you can help those who need material help; then, my 
friends, do not withhold. 

1258. "Mediums especially often stand in need of assist- 
ance. 1 grant you they are uot all perfect, and never will be. 
so long as they are thrown out upon the world to sustain their 
physical life the best they may, for they are thrown into all 
kinds of conditions, and must be the mouth-piece ofttimes of 
all kinds of spirits. 



BEYOXD THE VAIL. UT, 

(a) "If you want perfection in inediuinskip, make your own 
selves pure and thus people the spirit world with pure spirits. 

1259. '"There are many mediums who developed their medi- 
umship in order that they and their friends might satisfy them- 
selves of the immortal life. No sooner are they developed than 
they are forced out into the world to herald the good tidings; 
and many, in order to do this, must sacrifice both home and 
friends. Is it small wonder that they are often discouraged, 
after witnessing the beautiful visions furnished them of spirit 
life, to rudely awaken to the realities of a mundane life, and 
often of going supperless to bed? 

1260. "'Many Spiritualists who possess abundant means 
and have not relieved the suffering around them will find them- 
seves in dire distress upon entering spirit life. It is, indeed, 
more blessed to give than to receive." 

(This writing contains one thousand words and was writ- 
ten by the spirit in two minutes of time. — Secretary.) 



CHAPTER XII. 

Covetousness. 

1261. Wesley Aber made a writing of effects of avarice, by 
relating the experience of a miser as follows: 

(a) "My friends, I have had a strange experience since I 
last wrote you. I have a very intimate friend in the spirit world 
who spends his time in aiding the darkened spirits he can find, 
and, like all progressive spirits, he is much interested in the 
work we are endeavoring to place before the world. A few days 
ago he came to me and said he had found a spirit whose con- 
dition was extremely bad, and that he would be pleased to have 
me interview him, as a description of his condition would make 
interesting matter to the reader of 'Beyond the Vail.' 

1262. "So soon as I was at liberty I accompanied my friend 
and we visited one of the lower spirits. In an old building that 
looked as if vou might overthrow it with the pressure of your 
hand, sat an'old man on a broken chair. His head was bowed 
upon his folded arms, and he looked the spirit of despondency. 

1263. "Bright, shining gold-pieces lay in heaps upon the 
floor, and on shelves in one corner of the room bags of money 
were piled high. On the table before him were piles and piles 
of bonds and mortgages. . 

1264. "I walked over to him, placed my hand upon Ins 
shoulder, and said: 'My friend, why arc yon so dejected?' He 
raised his hand and looked a1 me wildly, and said: 

(a) "'Do not call me friend. No man has ever called me 



446 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 




WESLEY ABER. 



(1261.) 



so with a true ring of friendship in his voice. Not that I blame 
them now or ever did, for that matter. But once I was a happy, 
innocent boy, running wild among the birds and flowers about 
my country home. My spirit was not small and mean as it is 
now, for I lived so close to Nature that I naturally imbibed 
more or less of sympathy and magnanimity. I soon grew to 
manhood and was forced out into the world to make my way 
as others before me. And it is not necessary for me to tell 
you of my struggle for riches, but, by a lucky stroke, an im- 
mense fortune was mine at last. For years I had been growing 
more grasping each year, and now that fortune had smiled on 
me, I determined to make the most of my dollars, and so I be 
came a money-lender. 

1265. "'Oh, the bitterness of it! People fondled me and 
pretended friendship for me. My eyes became dim in my long 
battle with the world, and I knew T that it was only my money 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 447 

they loved, and not nryself x and the knowledge of it did not 
make me feel less bitter. 

1266. " 'I married, or, rather, bought a beautiful young 
wife, who professed to love me at first, and if she had, I think 
it would have made a different man of me, for I soon found 
that she was as shallow and false as all the rest of mankind, 
and the last speck of sympathy was trodden out of my breast. 
I had been close before, but now I became grasping. I fairly 
gloated over the sufferings of others. 

1267. " c So I lived and died, with no tears shed for me, 
except hypocritical ones, and no kind word spoken, except the 
shallow ones my money paid for being said over my lifeless 
body. And the funeral procession was* long, and the flowers 
were piled high, but their fragrance cannot reach me in my 
miserable home here. 

1268. " 4 I hear there are spirits who do not know at first 
they are dead, but it did not take me long to ascertain that 
fact. But why I came to this place I do not know, unless it 
was because 1 could not go any place else. How I gloated over 
the riches I found here! I tried to purchase comfort with them, 
but could not, and then it was that I found my death was not 
a nightmare, but a reality, for on earth wealth will purchase 
one's comfort, while here it is useless.' 

1269. "The horrible pictures, images, engraven on that 
man's psychic ether, which his awakened conscience now dis- 
cerns as hanging upon the walls of his spirit home! 

(a)' "And he said: 'Still you ask why I am not happy. 
Gaze at the pictures on the wall and tell me if you could be 
happy were you the creator of such pictures.' 

(b) "As I first glanced around the room T was so interested 
in the story of my guide that I did not notice the pictures, but 
later, behold what strange, weird pictures were there! 

(c) "The picture of a mother and little babes shivering in 
a fireless room; the suffering upon their pinched faces was 
awful. 

(d) "The picture of a young man shooting himself. 

(e) "The picture of an old man dying alone. 

(f) "The two pictures with a young girl lor the central 
figure: In the first watching the feeble spark of life leaving 
the form of her mother. In the second she was the central fig 
ure in a scene of debauchery. 

ig) "I turned away and refused to look ai the others. He 
told me that day after day he was forced to look ai these picl 
nres his greed for money had produced. 

(h) "There were only two bright pictures in the collection: 
one was his childhood home and mother: the oilier was the picl 
ure of a bright young boy assisting a poor old woman. These 



448 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

last two pictures were magnificent, but he told me he very sel- 
dom looked upon them, for the attraction was not so great in 
them as in the others. 

The Voice of Retribution. 

1270. "And his now hateful money he was forced to count, 
day after day. He said he would give it all for one hour of 
happiness, or if it would even purchase him the delusive hap- 
piness of earth. 

(a) "Poor old man! I felt so sorry for him and longed to 
aid him, but he said he would rather I would leave him alone 
in his misery. He said a voice kept saying to him: 'Oh, if yon 
had only made use of your money where it w T ould have pur- 
chased health and happiness for so many instead of dragging 
them to ruin!' 

(b) "So I left him alone with his loathsome money and the 
gruesome pictures, his only music being the moans and curses 
of those whose earth life he had darkened. 

(c) "I want him to come here sometime and tell you of 
the curse money will bring to those who possess it and refuse 
1o better the conditions of those around them. 

(Signed) "WesleyP 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Some Promiscuous Cases. 



Two pictures were made in the bright light of day as 
tests for Mr. Pratt's benefit, the same box being used that was 
used for all the crayon pictures hereinbefore described, and 
Mr. Pratt thus describes this case, to-wit: 

1271. "The first picture is that of Olive B. Weels, late of 
Wyandotte, Kansas, who died August 8, 1893; and the next 
(both taken at the same time) is that of 

1272. "Jane Osgood Pratt, who died in Greenup County, 
Kentucky, in 1830. 

"These pictures were taken at my house on December 31, 
1899, at 11 a. m. They were both taken psychically in this wise: 

"For Mrs. Olive B. Wells, the sheet of sketch paper was 
placed in the box in the usual way and lid locked down, the 
open box and contents being first exposed to my inspection, 
and the box was not removed out of my sight from the oblong 
table on which it rested until both pictures were executed. 
But yet we were not ready. Mr. Aber produced a slate which 
was innocent of having spot or blemish on either side. After 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 



449 





OLIVE B. WELLS. (1271.) 



JANE OSGOOD PRATT. (1272.) 



it was made thus clear, it was wrapped in black cloth five or six 
times and placed on the box. Now all was ready for execution 
of the pictures, and we all four of us stood closely around the 
table, with our arms extended to a center on the slates and 
box. After holding our hands there nearly five minutes, raps 
signaled the work done. 

"Mrs. Aber unwrapped the slate and on it was the second 
picture. Mr. Aber unlocked the box and exposed the contents, 
which was the picture, life size, of Olive B. Wells. 

u Now T to say that Mr. or Mrs. Aber deceived me in the full 
light of day, in a full-lighted room, and we not farther than 
three feet apart from the beginning to the finish, is to assume an 
impossibility. And, furthermore, Mr. and Mrs. Aber were not 
born at the time of the existence of Jane Osgood Pratt in the 
mortal, nor had they ever seen Olive B. Wells. I did not nor 
had not entertained their existence in my mind for a long while, 
and the pictures were surprises to me. J. H. Pratt" 



450 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 




1273. 



PRAIRIE FLOWER 



Making spirit pongee (1042\ and, by the assistance of four other spirits, receiving and 
clothing a newborn spirit. (25.) 



Spirit Photography. — The Indian Maiden. 

Of course the incredulous will smile, perhaps be somewhat 
scornful and sarcastic, but that settles nothing', destroys no 
fact, llow many millions of people in their dvini»- hours have 
exclaimed: ''Why, here is mother! Oh, father! Brother John! 
Sister Mary! All my old friends whom I thought dead long 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 4 51 

years ago, liere tliey are in shining garments, and so glad that 
I am coming. Let me leave the old body and go with them. 
The grave hath no victory and the sting of death is gone. Lit- 
tle Charley, when dying, sees mother, gone before, and smiles 
good-bye to earth. In a few days little Susan's life is ebbing 
away, and at last the little eyes open toward papa, and she, 
smiling, says: "Papa, Charley is here to take me, and I am 
going!'' The eyes close, and Susan has gone with brother 
Charley. 

But where do Charley and Susan get their ''shining gar- 
ments" if not from spirit clothiers? And so this spirit band has 
been able to make visible to this circle at many times some- 
thing near the manner of this clothing process. And the above 
illustration in materialized form has often presented to view 
as described in the records of the seances where they occurred. 
But this illustration is a spirit photograph taken on this 
wise, to-wit: 

Just after attending the World's Fair at Chicago. Charles 
W. Steward, a medium for slate messages, spirit photography, 
and kindred phases, visited at Mr. House's home in Spring Hill 
for a period of several weeks, and Mr. House being prepared 
with sensitive plates, developing-room, and photograph printing 
apparatus and material therefor, Mr. Steward and Mr. House 
made many photograph experiments. 

"One day," says Mr. House, "Charley was over there in the 
park shading, and all of a sudden hastened to my house, saying: 
'Prairie Flower desires to show what she can do.' I went with 
the medium into the dark-room and took a plate from a box of 
plates of my own furnishing, placed the plate in the holder in 
the usual way, closed the slide, and wrapped the whole in cloth 
so as to allow no light to strike the plate, and took the package, 
thus wrapped, out into broad daylight, sun shining through the 
windows into the room. We both sat facing each other, with 
the photograph package between us clutched tightly in our 
hands not more than two minutes, and, at a signal by spirit 
raps, we understood the effort was concluded. Immediately wo 
both together went to the developing-room, taking the photo- 
graph package, and developed the plate in the usual way, the 
result giving us the photograph of which the above cut is a 
copv, representing the manner of preparing clothing and attir- 
ing' forms in spirit life as well as in grosser phenomena called 
materialization." 

Here the nude form of the central figure, No. 6, is being 
clothed upon by Nos. 5, 1, and 3, with "pongee" being prepared 
by spirit Prairie Flower, No. 1. This Indian, No. 2. doubtless 
furnishes the positive magnetic elements necessary in making 



452 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

the pongee goods, while Mrs. Harriet Adams, Figure 3, recog- 
nized by Mr. House as his aunt, furnishes negative magnetic 
elements used in this special case of spirit art. 

The reader is referred to "Rending the Vail," pages 198- 
201, entire, and to this book at paragraphs — . 

Should the Bible student be inclined to laugh at the idea of 
this spirit clothier department in spirit life, let us ask: "Whence 
the long white robes and shining garments of the angelic hosts? 
At the ascension, whence the white apparel of the two men 
that stood by them?" (Acts i. 10.) Whence the mantle of Sam- 
uel? "An old man cometh up and he is covered with a mantle, 
and Saul perceived it was Samuel." (1 Sam. xxviii. 14.) 

If the grave-clothes of Jesus were left at the sepulchre, 
whence his ascension garments, if he had any? Or had he bor- 
rowed a suit for the occasion? Why not the Christian admit 
the feasibility of modern psychic claims as to the modus operandi 
of clothing persons in the future life? 

Spirit Photography — Case 2. (See next page.) 

1274. The picture to the reader's left hand is of Mr. House, 
the one to the reader's right hand Mrs. House, and the other 
five pictures are of spirits and all of them fully recognized. 
The one nearest Mrs. House she recognizes as a good likeness 
of her mother, Betty Hairmape. (See a spirit crayon picture 
set in at paragraph 32 J.) The picture of the little girl next to 
Mr. House is a good likeness of Ruth Long, who passed out of 
the physical about two years before this photograph was taken, 
and at the age of four years, being then a resident of Kansas 
City, Mo., and a daughter of a niece of Mr. House. The picture 
immediately above that of Ruth is in the likeness of Wm. 
Henry Peacock, who, at the age of twenty-two years, passed to 
spirit life and is a son of Mrs. House. The picture over Mr. 
House's head Mr. House at once recognized as a good likeness 
of Colonel Wm. Baily, of St. Louis, Mo., with whom Mr. House 
was acquainted before and during the War of the Rebellion. 
During the war Mr. Baily was foreman of Wm. Clark's foundry, 
and colonel of a militia regiment in St. Louis, but was not blind 
as shown in this picture. One peculiarity about the photograph 
is that the hair of Baily is shaded dark red. And the other 
picture, the one in the upper center, Mr. House says, is a com- 
plete likeness of his brother, Thomas Jefferson House, who 
passed to spirit life some thirty years ago by a railroad accident. 

Manner of Talcing the Pli olographs. 

(a) Mr. House and the medium, Mr. Aber, together went 
into the dark-room and chose, promiscuously, from a box of 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



453 




sensitive plates that Mr. House himself had furnished, a plate, 
and placed it in the plate-holder, all in the red lighl of what 
is called the photographer's dark-room, and look and placed the 
plate-holder in the camera in the light room, where Mr. and 



454 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

Mrs. House sat; and the exposure was made in the usual way. 
Then the room was made dark and the camera tube uncapped 
again, and one or two minutes of the exposure in the dark; 
then Mr. House and Mr. Aber took the said plate-holder to the 
dark-room, took the plate out of the holder, and developed the 
plate in the usual way with the above result. 

Spirit Photography — Case 3. — Without a Camera. 

1275. J. H. Pratt's statement as to this case at paragTaph 
1275, to-wit: 

i4 This psychic picture was taken April 10, 1893, at four 
o'clock in the afternoon, and on this wise: After I had gotten 
up that morning, I went to the dark-room of my photograph 
gallery, taking the plate-holder with me, into which I inserted 
a Cramer sensitive plate. Then I took the said plate-holder con- 
taining said sensitive plate into the kitchen and placed the 
said holder and plate in a drawer of the sideboard. I locked 
the sideboard drawer and placed the key in my pocket. Soon 
after which Mr. Charles W. Steward came downstairs and in- 
formed myself and wife what I had been doing with the plate- 
holder. 

"I had hired this Mr. Charles W. Steward for a term of 
two months for this particular phase of psychic mediumship, 
and I found him to be all I could desire for spirit photography, 
slate-writing, trumpet mediumship, and other phases. It was 
my custom, when I wanted to investigate on any line of phe 
nomena, to hire a reputable medium to come to my house; and 
I have desired to investigate all the phenomena purporting to 
emanate from the other life, which I have done amply. And 
this I say, I have never been deceived. I fitted up a photograph 
gallery and outfit at a cost of over two hundred dollars. This 
is not boasting, but to prove the general intent I have and take 
in the subject. I have hired mediums by the month for terms 
of two months, six months, twelve months, eighteen months, 
and even more during the last thirteen years. 

"To return: Mr. Steward told us the time when we should 
hold the plate-holder; hence, at four o'clock I told my wife to 
get the plate-holder from the drawer wherein I had placed it 
in the morning. She unlocked the drawer, took out the plate- 
holder, and handed it to me where I was sitting, near an east 
window. She sat down in front of me on the sofa, extending 
the plate-holder to me, which I laid hold of, and we held the 
plate-holder two minutes, when Mr. Steward, who sat south 
on the sofa, said we had held it long enough, and we went into 
the developing-room, and in the red light thereof took the said 
plate from the said holder and developed it, with the result that 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 



455 




A Bouquet of Roses with Human Faces in the Flowers. 



0275.) 



prints this picture, and I recognize the face to the east or left 
side to be in complete likeness of my daughter, Cornelia Pratt, 
who died December 4, 1872, at the age of eight years and three 
months. 

"Mr. Charles W. Steward had nothing to do with the pict- 
ure while forming, and that lets us in with the facts stated, 
which, being personal to ns, we stand by them. 

' V. TL Pratt, 
"Josephine I* rail." 



456 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Let us approach the next chapter with this prefatory state- 
ment, to-wit: The portrait at 1276 is a copy of a crayon por- 
trait, life size, made by the spirit artist in like manner as all 
the crayon portraits were made for this book. 

It may be well to once more have the reader's mind direct- 
ed to the way that these pictures are made and what they rep- 
resent. A picture of the spirit form as it exists in spirit life 
would represent an ideal youth just grown to manhood or 
womanhood, for that is the condition of all in the spirit world 
after passing to the requisite age and having out-grown abnor- 
mal conditions produced by earth life environment. 

In order that identity be shown in a picture, the form must 
must be made up as near as possible to be just like it was at 
the given time in the earth life, and the artist copy that form 
on to the paper, so that a spirit picture cannot represent the 
appearance of the person at all times while on earth, and may 
be just as one person remembers it, and not at all as another 
remembers. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. • 



457 



APPENDIX A. 



5? m 




ERASTUS K. COFFIN. 

Analytical Exemplification of a Case Purporting to Demon- 
strate the Identity of a Spirit Claiming to be One 
Certain Erastus K. Coffin. 

1276. This case is recorded at paragraph 41)3, on pages 
91 and 92 of "Bending the Vail.'' It is believed that this 
analysis will assist some readers to a clearer appreciation of 
the actual tests to be found in many of the cases given of rec- 
ord in the two publications, and is given for the further reason 
that this case is the only one in which criticisms have reached 
the compiler, but the criticisms have enabled us to reach most 
of the facts in the case, many of which were not known to us 
until after the publication of "Rending the Vail," and it is 



458 .BEYOND THE VAIL. 

hoped that this analysis will aid the reader in any review he 
or she may make, to more fully appreciate the greatpains taken 
by this psychic band to present matter appropriate to their 
designs. 

This particular case was given as an example of how a spirit 
is able to demonstrate his or her identity to any person who is 
in possession of sufficient facts to show the identity, and was 
given to J. H. Nixon and his wife, Charlotte O. Nixon, because 
they knew or would be able to ascertain such facts in this case. 

Deflection, 

1277. Some remarks concerning causes of occasional er- 
rors of statements made by communing spirits may be in place 
before proceeding to the analysis. 

(a) Doubtless the reader will remember that in this vol- 
ume, "Beyond the Vail," is the record that it has been the busi- 
ness of some of the spirits of this psychic band, such as Thomas 
Paine, Professor M. Faraday, Professor Hare, Professor Mapes, 
and some others, to choose what matter should be presented 
and to choose what spirit was best adapted to present each 
particular case, to consummate the designs of these publica- 
tions. And the reader will surely learn by careful analysis of 
the various examples given that at least many of them are 
given in such concentrated form as to simply astonish the care- 
ful analyst. 

(b) It seems to be a fact also that after a spirit w r as chosen 
by the proper controls to present an exemplification of a given 
line of the work, that that spirit had the assistance of the best 
teachers of the band for each case in hand, and was, before giv- 
ing the particular case, drilled for the purpose, as is a pupil at 
a training-school for a certain production. 

(c) '"Now, perhaps, if not before, the reader is prepared to 
grasp the fact that when a spirit is so trained to deliver a mes- 
sage for a specific object and has a frail, temporary body made 
up by means of which to present the case to the circle, that a 
very slight disturbance of conditions by the circle or by any 
member of the circle, or the asking of a question not in line 
with what is designed to be given, or the making of any sug- 
gestion out of line with the intended message while the same 
is being given, must inevitably tend to deflect the message out 
of the course intended, and surely lead to a misunderstanding 
by the circle of what the messenger intended to say or to write, 
as the case might be, and for want of a better term we may 
call errors thus produced errors of deflection, caused by ignor- 
ance and improper conduct of the circle, and not bv lying spirits 
at all. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 459 

1278. Again, if hypnotism be true, and a materialization 
or a spirit in any occult condition is giving a certain line of 
thought and a person of the circle present a question or strong 
suggestion, the question or suggestion, by hypnotic deflection, 
may modify the utterance of the spirit out of its intended line. 
And here is deflection out of its intentions by what we may ap- 
propriately designate ''sympathetic suggestion," and intended 
truth converted into falsehood, and the circle or some member 
of the circle to blame, and not some lying spirit. 

Now this paragraph 493 of "Rending the Vail," as recorded, 
presents some forty-one facts and some of them very astound- 
ing facts; and there are also four or five errors of statement, 
and one seemingly very gross error. But in the light of the 
foregoing stated principles the analysis shows the errors to 
have been deflections caused by untimely and improper sugges- 
tions of the circle, and one of the seeming errors was probably 
introduced by the sympathetic suggestion of a spirit, and the 
psychic student will find by persistent investigation that, at a 
seance where conditions are permitting "communion of the 
.saints," it ofttimes occurs that great numbers of spirits congre- 
gate, each of whom is very anxious to reach some message to 
some friend yet in the physical, but neither time nor conditions 
will admit more than a very few to the privilege of an inter- 
view, so that the communing spirit has its desired message 
more or less deflected by the strong desires of some other spir- 
it, yet neither of the spirits intending to present anything but 
the truth. 

1279. When circles can be had of persons who know much 
of the causes of deflection, such circles attract such controls to 
their aid as also understand the same. Then deflections are 
reduced to a minimum, and the messages given are as free from 
error, at least, as would be expected of the deliberative bodies 
of scientists of the earth life. And it is doubtful if any per- 
son, called upon to give in a court of justice, under oath and 
cross-examination, in retrospection, the biography of himself 
and any member of his family covering a period of oyer sMxt \ 
years, would give a more concise and truthful tradition than 
is contained in this case in "Rending the Vail." 

1280. In order that the reader may understand the full 
force and significance of this case, it may be best to retrospect 
the matter so far as the geography, history, biography, and inci- 
dents pertaining thereto have been ascertained and remembered 

by this secretary, who, for brevity, is designated as N 

throughout the remainder of this chapter. 

This Erastus and X were second cousins on the Coffin 

side, and first cousins on the N side. Erastus was five or 



BEYOXD TEE TAIL. 

six rears older than X . and it is said that the Jesse Coffin 

was a second cousin to Erastns and X . X was born at 

inty, Indiana, May 14, 1831, and Erastns 
oorn at or near to the said Salem, abont 1823, as near as 

X now knows. 

This Salem is county seat of said county, and is northwest 
nd thirty-five mi ant from Louigville, Ky.. which is 

Is. and on the sonth side of the : 
In former times f Salem, when speaking 

with to the Ohio Biver below the falls, nse th 

pression, "Down the rrc« me distance down 

expression is, "Away down the river"; and if above the falls. 
Away tip the river." The : Bendmj! the VaiP 

shows that the seance at which this test case was given was 
held on May 10 exemplification is written May 

:901. an interir. am* 

We now leaiii some facts essential to a fall elucida- 
of this case from an obituary notice found in the Salem 
Democrat of Ju: 

That Jesse Coffin's widow "died July 6, 1900, aged 
ninety years, one month and ten days." Quoting farther from 
said obituary, we have these statements concerning this widow, 
Sumy Lewelling was born in H arolina, May 

and moved with her parents to Washington County, 
Indiana, March 14, 1814, and settled on a farm two and a half 
miles north of Salem: and ember 16, 1828, she married 

Jesse Coffin, who was a boatraar rjandise between 

Louisville and New couple lived in story 

on North S '.em. To them were 

born four dang one of which, named 

Mary K. Coffin, died in infancy; two others died within the 
four ;•- ind one e Jesse Coffin was 

drowned in the Ohil on March 20, 1836, having wa 

oh* of the boat in h being a somnambulist On Febru- 

ary £7 widow of Jesse Coffin married one Jehu Hun- 

2 
Prom other es we have learned 

the time that Jesse drowned, his family w 

reling u; n stream is 

but thai ■- his little girls fell 

into the :T of the imped right into the 

river and rescued ^he cbi> r it was Mary E. that 

was rescued alire, or whether Ms died before or after 

this, we do not know.) And that night, or soon after the child 
fell into the i leu Jesse slept he got up, rushed or walked 

■.ild ha/1 gone, and wall £ht off of 

x where ild bad fallen from the boat. 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 4(5 1 

and the wheel carried him under, so that the crew were unable 
to recover him alive. Whether the body was ever recovered or 
not we are not informed. 

1283. Again, we have been informed by some who severely 
criticise this case as stated in "Rending the Vail," that it is a 
fact that at about the very time that Jesse drowned, "A light 
like a bright star was seen to be moving about the house— 
their home in Salem — but that it was thought some person de- 
signing burglary or larceny was carrying that light." But what 
prevented the felony we are not informed. 

1281. N , a lad then of some seven summers, lived with 

his parents only about two blocks away from this Coffin home 
at this time, but remembers nothing of this whole affair; how- 
ever, some five years later N -'s mother told him something 

about that light, and this is how she happened to do so. 

1285. N learned his letters and to read from the Bible, 

and was reading along and got over to that "burning bush" and 
"pillar of fire by night," and wanted an explanation, and his 
mother related this drowning and this bright light as the best 
exemplification she could then make of these alleged Mosaic 
experiences, but she told only so much of the Jesse Coffin affair 
as would pertain to this light. So that N was never in pos- 
session of all the facts pertaining to this test case, until since 
"Rending the Vail" was published, and there are some facts 
of the case not yet learned. It might be stated in passing that 
these Coffins, Mxons, and Lewellings were all Quakers and chil- 
dren of Quakers, at the time of removing from North Carolina 
to Indiana about from 1810 to 1816. This one interview pre- 
sents four cases, but only two of them seem to have been orig- 
inally designed by the spirits. 

1286. The first case is concerning an event at Highland 
Creek, which we take up and dispose of before proceeding far- 
ther with the Jesse Coffin matter. 

(a) Erastus and N were always quite congenial to- 
gether during Erastus' stay in the physical, and interested 
together in scientific pursuits, both of physics and psychics, and 
in temperance reform work, though Erastus was a Methodist 
Episcopal minister, local, and of marked ability and quite elo- 
quent; while N was inclined to Spiritualism straight from 

1848 on. 

(b) Erastus resided in Salem from and after his marriage, 

and n . f rom about the age of ten years, resided some three 

miles northwest of Salem in a neighborhood known as High- 
land, from the name of a small brook called Highland Creek. 

(c) In this neighborhood and before the days of the com- 
mon school, the citizens builded them a school-house, whirh 
was used also for general church purposes. 



462 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

(d) For a time after N 's marriage he resided near to 

this school-house, and very intimate social relations existed be- 
tween the two families. Erastus and Mrs. N always at 

repartee in most jovial style when visiting each other. 

(e) On an occasion, about the summer of 1859, Erastus had 
an appointment to preach at this school -house, and it was ar- 
ranged that after the service he should dine with N . 

(f) The Sunday came and Mrs. N prepared an old-style 

chicken-pie and left it cooking while she and N went to the 

meeting, and on return the chicken-pie was superbly cooked; 

dinner soon ready; but, for some reason, N was called away 

just then, leaving Erastus and Mrs. N to devour the 

chicken-pie. And, about eighteen months later Erastus passed 
out of the physical to the spiritual condition of life, of pulmo 
nary tuberculosis, inherited. 

(g) In the course of events, some thirty years after the 

transitional resurrection of Erastus, he meets Mrs. N face 

to face as in the olden time, except that he is an inhabitant of 
another and more glorious condition, and endeavors to convince 

Mrs. N that he is the same Erastus that did partake of 

her hospitality by relating to her the last conversation they 
ever had together and that no mortal but she did know. 

1287. And now, dear reader, let us consider for a moment 
this profound, this wonderful test. Let us not get alarmed be- 
cause this spirit condescends to talk about chicken-pie that he 
may demonstrate that Erastus, the same Erastus, still lives 
and remembers his friends yet on earth, and would gladly meet 
and tell all of them about the glorious spirit world if they 
would only allow him to do so. It is hard to discern why it was 
all right for three angels to visit Abraham and have a pan of 
water and wash their feet, and then rest a little bit in the shade 
until a calf could be killed and cooked for them to eat part of 
the veal, or for God himself to have himself murdered and a 
few mornings after to go out to where the disciples were fish- 
ing, and to have some fish cooked and bread prepared on the 
seashore ready for their breakfast when they should land, and 
at another time sit down and eat some "broiled fish and honey- 
comb" with the disciples, and now be told that it is so awfully 
awful for Erastus, thirty years after his resurrection, to talk 
— to even talk about chicken-pie that he ate before his decease, 
unless it is because it was right about some people who could 
"strain at a gnat and swallow a camel." Notwithstanding the 
gnat-strainers, Erastus said to Mrs. N : 

1288. "Say, Charlotte,* 1 * do you remember that day out at 
Highland^ Creek,< 3 > how I got away with that chicken-< 4 >pie?" (ri > 

Mrs. N — — : "Yes, 'Kastus, you preachers always used to 
be fond of chicken." 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 4$$ 

Spirit: "Yes.* 6 * Yellow-^legged chicken.* 8 * And 1 find M 
was sometimes more chicken* 9 * than religion."* 10 * 

Mrs. N says that the last above fourteen words are the 

very words Erastus used in that dinner conversation of which 
N knew nothing until this seance. 

1289. A close scrutiny of this case would certainly show 
to any candid mind that it would be almost impossible to con 
ceive of a stronger test case than this. Ten facts, each one of 
them too wonderful for mere coincidence. How did that spirit 
guess the right name of that creek, with a thousand chances to 
guess wrong? Or the kind of pie, with a hundred chances to 
err? Or the right words in full, with at least twenty-five thou- 
sand chances to err against one chance to be correct. And why 
did the spirit choose this particular case to show forth his 
identity? Because it was the only case as to himself and Mrs. 

N in which such strong test conditions existed, and because 

very few lives have in them the possibility of such a powerful 
test case to be repeated with like brevity. 

Case 2. 

1290. Now let us return to the Jesse Coffin matter in 
which it is claimed there are some errors, and see whether, if 
there be errors, we can learn the cause and discern something 
of the laws governing deflections, and see an overwhelming bal- 
ance as touching relative truth. So here we quote from "Bend- 
ing the Vail," noting with numerals the facts stated, and with 
letters the alleged errors, thus: 

Spirit (to N ): "Sav, Jabez/ 1 * do you know Jessed 

Coffin ?"* 3 * 

N : "What Jesse?" 

Spirit: "I have a son* 4 * Jesse,< a > you know.* b * but I mean 
Uncle* c * Jesse. He was drowned* 5 * away down* 6 * the river.* 7 * 
He got up,* 8 * somnambule* 9 * walking,< 10 > and walked* 11 * right off 
of the boat/ 12 ) into the river."* 13 * 

N : "Oh, ves, long time ago." 

Spirit: "Yes.* 14 * Over [should be, nearly] sixty years 
ago."< 15 > 

N- : "About the time he drowned, what, if anything. 

peculiar was observed at his home in Salem?" 

Spirit: "A light* 16 * like a bright star* 17 * was seen* ls * to be 
moving* 19 * about* 20 * the house."* 21 * 

"What was that light?" 

"His spirit partially materialized." 

"What became of his widow?" 

"Oli, she* 22 * married* 28 * long after."* 24 * (Nine years 



In- 
spirit 

N 



Spirit 
after.) 



464 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

N : "Is J. R in mortal or spirit life now?" 

Spirit: "He 's over here with us. The widow of Jesse mar- 
ried him, you know." 

1291. This answer as to the question asked was wholly 
untrue, but the question was wholly out of place and suggested 
a false answer. The spirit intended to tell in full what became 

of Jesse's widow, and N should have asked his question 

honestly, then he would have received an honest and truthful 
answer insttiid of a deflected one. The proper and honest ques- 
tion would have been, "Is Jehu Hungate in mortal or spirit life 

now?" because N knew that John R was not the man 

that Fannie Coffin married; hence his question made a false sug- 
gestion and deflected the intention of the spirit out of the line 
that had been determined upon. But the next question, "Is 
she, Jesse's widow, yet in the mortal?" was an honest question, 
because N did not know whether she was then in the mor- 
tal or not, and the spirit made a truthful but guarded answer, 
saying: "I have not seen her over here. I guess she is not 
here»< 25 > 

When the spirit said, at the first of this case, "Say, Jabez, 
do you know Jesse Coffin?" N , instead of answering truth- 
fully, thus, "Yes, I know of him," for N did know of Jesse 

Coffin, and he knew of only the one "Jesse Coffin" — but, in- 
stead, N asked an evasive and uncandid question, and got 

an answer partly true and partly untrue. So that in this case, 
wonderful as it is when fully considered, we have twenty-five 
facts given by the spirit, and only two positive errors and four 

partial errors, and the want of candor in the questions of N 

produced all the errors, by deflection under the law in spirit 
communion that we have designated as that of "sympathetic 
suggestion." 

And N is of the opinion that want of candor, ignorance, 

and improper queries on the part of mortals at these commun- 
ions make up the principal foundation of most error received 
and attributed to "lying spirits." 

1292. And it is possible that over-anxiety of spirits who 
have had but little experience at communion seances often 
leads to some deflections into partial or entire error. And the 
third case here presents one slight error occasioned in this man- 
ner, perhaps, and N so regards that people should know all 

possible concerning the laws of communion that he asks the 
reader's patience and careful attention to an exemplification of 

this case third, because this interview to N as a whole was 

a most astounding verification of a spirit identity. So we ap- 
proach the analysis with placing before the reader some facts 
that are necessary to an understanding of what this case third 
was to N . 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 4C,r, 

This Erastus Coffin's father, at about the time that Jesse 
Coffin drowned, operated a leather tannery at this same Salem, 
and this tannery was some two blocks due north of the Jesse 
Coffin home, and one day Erastus' little sister, named Martha, 
fell into a tan vat of this tannery and drowned. N , re- 
membering something of this case, thus addressed the spirit: 
"Was any of your father's family drowned?" 

Spirit: "Let me see — yes, I believe there was."W 

N : "Brother or sister?" 

Spirit: "Little^ sister."< 3 > 

N : "Her name?" 

Spirit: "I believe it was Mary." (The true name was 
Martha.) 

N : "How did she happen to drown?" 

Spirit: "She fell< 4 > into< 5 > a pooU 6 > of a leather^ 7 ) factory."( 8 > 

1293. Here are eight wonderful facts and one error. 
How did the spirit happen to guess eight points just right? 
Why did he not say she fell into the river, or into a creek, or 
into a tub of water, or into the well, or into a cistern, or lake, 
or pond, or fountain reservoir, or barnyard pool, or in cross- 
ing a stream the canoe upset and turned the mother and child 
into the water, and the child was thus drowned. If there was 
not more than guess-work, how did the spirit get any fact out 
of such contingencies? 

The objector asks: "Why did the spirit not tell everything 
correct? Why did he make any mistake? The philosopher ac- 
quainted with mathematical permutation is bound to ask, ''How 
was it possible to make so few mistakes?'- But the psychic stu- 
dent has often been told that at seances for spirit return there 
are sometimes hundreds of spirits present who are anxious to. 
let their friends know something of the fact of future life, and 
crowd themselves into the aura used by the communing spirit, 
and thus make deflections. 

1294. Now in this case let us try to conceive what other 
spirits were present with Erastus. Of course his friends and 
relatives in spirit life would likely be there. And Jesse ( Joffin's 
friends would also be present, for this is an experiment in 
which it is safe to say thousands of spirits were deeply inter- 
ested on the question of proving identity of person, and the 
case of Jesse Coffin had been determined upon by the anxious 
spirits to present for that purpose: every spirit closely con- 
nected with the life of Jesse would be there, mid .Jesse's daugh- 
ter Marv that died in infancy would be there, and helping to 
make the case, and Erastus' sister Martha that drowned about 
the same time Jesse drowned and his daughter Mary died, and 
while at this seance the question was on the facts of J< 

BV 30 



466 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

case, and N suddenly and abruptly changed the case from 

Jesse's family to Erastus' family, is it any wonder that the 
name of Jesse's daughter, instead of the name of Erastus' sis- 
ter, should be given? Then Erastus' mother's name was Mary. 
But the reader asks: "Why did the spirit not correct the 
mistakes? 

1295. The case as recorded shows that the circle plied the 
spirit with questions out of order and away from the purpose 
of the interview, thus destroying the conditions for the spirit 
to hold his form until the form had to dissolve away right in 
the midst of the fourth case, and any future corrections would 
have been useless. Nevertheless N did get more discern- 
ment out of this interview concerning the responsibility of the 
circle in the matter of deflecting the intentions of communing 
sprits than from any other one incident in all of his psychic 
experiences. 

In the two publications, "Rending the Vail" and "Beyond 
the Vail," are nearly one hundred and fifty cases of record con- 
taining each one as strong evidences to the recipient of the 
claimed identity of the communing spirit as the foregoing was 

to N , but it would require volumes to contain an analytical 

exemplification of them all; hence only the one exemplification 
is given and that only in brief. 



APPENDIX B. 

Authentication. 

1296. Sworn statements of Dr. E. J. Schellhous and others: 
"State of Missouri, County of Jackson, ss. 

E. J. Schellhous, M.D., of lawful age, being duly sworn, de- 
poses and says as follows: 

"That this affiant, E. J. Schellhous, having learned that 
spiritual seances were being held at the residence of J. H. Pratt, 
of Spring Hill, Kansas, for the production of a book, 'Beyond 
the Vail,' went as a visitor to witness some of said seances on 
the 1st of April, 1900, remaining until the end of November fol- 
lowing, attending and witnessing about seventy-five of the said 
seances. 

"That on first entrance into the seance-room affiant noticed 
that the light was shaded down to a deep twilight, but suffi- 
ciently light for the members of the circle to readily recognize 
each other and any person in the room, and a small portion of 
the southwest corner of the room cut off by dark curtains sus- 
pended from ceiling to floor, and the curtains parting at the 
center, and together with the portions of south and west walls 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 467 

of the room thus cut off formed a cabinet occupying some ten 
square feet of the floor of that corner of the room, and in this 
cabinet was a box of sketch paper and one chair, and the me- 
dium parted the curtains, entered the cabinet and was seated 
on said chair, and the circle were seated in front of the cabi- 
net against the east and north walls of the room, and the sec- 
retary in the southeast corner of the room. The medium is 
of small stature and dark complexion, and is clean-shaven; and 
subsequent thorough investigation revealed to affiant that the 
medium, during the seances, wore not a thread of white in any 
of his clothing, and was always in a deep, unconscious trance 
during the seance. 

"That when all was ready for beginning any seance, there 
would appear a materialized form much taller than the medium, 
with full beard, and clothed in ordinary style of dress with 
white s4rirt collar and bosom. This form was announced as 
Dr. Keed, the chemical control of these seances. After a greet- 
ing and a few words of explanation he would disappear, gener- 
ally immediately followed by Professor William Denton, whom 
affiant personally knew while the said Denton was in the earth 
life, and his appearance at these seances w T as so realistic that 
affiant would immediately recognize both his voice and appear- 
ance. This spirit would deliver a brief oration, in a full, clear 
voice, on some subject intended for the book in progress. Then 
would appear other materializations, the male forms clothed in 
the usual garb of male attire, some with dark, flowing beard, 
and others with white beard and hair; some to deliver mes- 
sages for the book, and some to be recognized by visitors and 
members of the circle. 

"That a large proportion of the forms appearing would be 
materialized forms as of women, usually arrayed in dazzling 
white, who came to relate their experience in the spirit world 
for the benefit of mortals or to meet in happy recognition their 
loved ones still in the physical condition. That materialized 
forms, male and female, clothed as above described, would ap- 
pear at the writing-desk, in which were common blank pencil 
tablets, of which tablets the form so standing at the desk would 
take one, write upon one leaf, tear that leaf out and write upon 
and tear from the tablet other leaves in full view of all per- 
sons present, and the noise of the writing and tearing would 
be distinctly heard by all present. And to affiant the most re- 
markable feature of this writing was the great rapidity of its 
execution, sometimes reaching 1o more than r>00 wordfl in a 
minute, and that at times the writer would talk on one sub- 
ject in ordinary style of conversation, while writing on an en- 
tirelv different one. 



468 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

"That another remarkable feature of these phenomena was 
the drawing of portraits. Some of these were of friends and 
relatives, recognized and highly prized by the recipients. Some, 
however, were of ancient spirits, and others were of the spirit 
controls and guides of those present. These portraits were 
life size, and executed with much skill, considering the time of 
executing: ijorty to ninety seconds. About fifty of these por- 
traits and several scenes in spirit life (so reported) were given 
for the book. The artist claimed to be one of the old Italian 
painters. 

"That the narratives and other messages embrace a great 
variety of subjects of inestimable value to mortals, connecting 
their earth life with the life beyond, showing how that life is 
affected by the life on earth. That some of the spirits were 
quite witty and created much merriment, while others seemed 
in sober and serious mood. 

"That other phenomena were singing, graceful pantomimes 
and etherealizations, and sometimes one spirit, Senorita, favored 
those present with dancing. And that at the different seances 
there would appear sometimes not more than fifteen, and at 
other seances as many as forty distinct materializations, and 
sometimes two and occasionally three forms at the same in- 
stant. That such were the general features of the phenomena 
which affiant witnessed, though the phenomena all the time 
continually differed much in detail. 
"Affiant, further deposing, says: 

"That practice of fraud in these seances was utterly im- 
possible without instant detection. That the medium was re- 
peatedly subjected to such test conditions as must satisfy the 
most critical investigator, and no one, to affiant's knowledge, 
ever left the seances without being satisfied of the integrity of 
the phenomena. The investigators had free access to all parts 
of the house. The deponent and the medium boarded with Mr. 
Pratt, and that the medium had no companions except his wife, 
the circle, and visitors, nor could have had without the knowl- 
edge of all concerned. 

"That the rapidity of the writing and portrait-making pre- 
cluded the possibility of fraud or collusion. That the idea of 
some who never witnessed these phenomena, in their sugges- 
tion that someone may have prepared the writing and portraits 
bforehand and played them on the circle by some sleight-of- 
hand, is absolutely preposterous to anyone who ever witnessed 
these seances. 

"That many visitors from far and near attended these 
seances, some remaining weeks at a time, among whom from 
a distance were: Mrs. Keepers and her daughter, of xAlbu 



BEYOND THE TAIL. 469 

querque, N. M.; Dr. Barr and Mr. McCracken, of Ellinwood, 
Kansas; Mrs. W. A. Miller, of Spring Dale, Ark.; Mrs. A. B. 
Whitney, of Rhinebeck, la.; Mrs. Dr. Murphy, of Kansas City, 
Mo.; Mrs. J. B. Lamb, of Parsons, Kansas; Philip Nadig, of Al- 
lentown, Pa.; Edward Butler, of Memphis, Mo.; and others. 

"That affiant had full, free, and ample opportunity to inves- 
tigate as to the integrity of the whole proceedings, and to 
become acquainted with the members of the circle, who were 
all well known and as respectable citizens as any in this com- 
munity in which they lived. 

"That at each seance the report of the preceding one was 
read and approved by the members of the circle and the spirit 
band, and all errors corrected when discovered by the spirits or 
by the circle. 

"That affiant has carefully and critically read the entire 
manuscripts and knows that they record in detail all the mes- 
sages and other phenomena correctly so far as this deponent 
witnessed them. E. J. Schellhous, M.D. 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this 19th day of July, 
A. D. 1901. Geo. Duvall, 

[Seal] "Notary Public. 

"My commission expires April 27, 1904." 

(a) Supporting affidavit of II. McCracken and Dr. B. W. 
Barr, residents of Ellinwood, Barton County, Kansas, to-wit: 
"State of Kansas, Barton County, ss. 

"Before me, J. H. Torrance, a notary public in and for the 
said county and State, this day personally came H. McCracken 
and Dr. R. W. Barr, both known to me as persons worthy of 
credence, who, being sworn, upon oath say that they have read 
the foregoing affidavit of Dr. E. J. Schellhous, relating to cer- 
tain psychic phenomena which occurred at Spring Hill, Kansas, 
during the year 1900; that affiants attended several of the 
seances and witnessed phenomena mentioned in said affidavit 
of the said Dr. E. J. Schellhous, and that, to the knowledge and 
belief of affiants, the said affidavit of the said Dr. E. J. Schell- 
hous sets forth the truth and the truth only. 

"fl". McCracken, 
"Dr. R. W. Ban:" 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this 30th day of July, 
A. D. 1901, at Ellinwood, Barton County, Kansas. 

"J. n. Torrance, 
[Seal] „ "Notary Public. 

"My commission expires July 13, 1905. 



470 BEYOND TEE VAIL, 

(b) Supporting affidavit of Mrs. W. A. Miller, resident of 
Spring Dale, Arkansas: 
"State of Arkansas, County of Washington, ss. 

"Before me, Ohas. F. Renner, a notary public in and for 
said county and State, this the 24th day of September, 1901, 
personally came Mrs. W. A. Miller, resident of said county and 
State, and known to me to be the person she represents herself 
to be, and whom I fully believe to be a person of integrity and 
worthy of credence, and who, being duly sworn, upon her oath 
says that she has read the above attached and foregoing affida- 
vit of Dr. E. J. Schellhous, relating to certain psychic phenom- 
ena, as having occurred at Spring Hill, Kansas, during the year 
1900; that said affiant attended some twelve or more of the 
seances and witnessed phenomena thereof as mentioned in said 
affidavit of the said Dr. E. J. Schellhous; and that, to the best 
knowledge and belief of this affiant, the said affidavit of the 
said Dr. E. J. Schellhous sets forth the truth and only the 
truth; and affiant further deposes and says that she was in- 
duced to make the long pilgrimage and the considerable sacri- 
fice to attend said seances from having read a certain book 
entitled 'Rending the Vail,' and that, at the seances which 
affiant attended as aforesaid, affiant witnessed phenomena 
equivalent to any phenomena as described in said book, 'Rend- 
ing the Vail.' , Mrs. W. A. Miller. 

"Subscribed and sworn to before me this the 24th day of 
September, 1901, at Spring Dale, said county and State. 

"Chas. F. Rentier, 
[Seal] "Notary Public. 

"My commission expires January 25, 1904." 

Many other like supportive affidavits might follow here, 
but the names and addresses of many of the visitors of the 
seances are placed in the record, to which the reader may have 
access by mail or otherwise; therefore we consider the forego- 
ing authentication sufficient. 



APPENDIX C. 

Ogon the Mason. (See paragraph 1129.) 

1297. They, the spirits, say that the brotherhood generally 
known as the Masonic Order had its origin in this wise : That in 
ages long since past there were certain inhabitants of the earth 
who were versed in what is now known as spirit return. Then, 
as now, these people held seances for purposes of spirit commun- 
ion, and that visiting spirits then taught, as in our time, that 



BEYOND TEE VAIL. 471 

persons immediately after death are in much the same condition 
mentally that they were just before death, at leasl when the 
earth life had been natural or normal in condition. Also that 
in the future or new life the same law of progressive mental 
growth continues; that each successive stage of advaneemenl 
was designated, as in this time, as a sphere, state or condition 
of being, high or otherwise, according to the unfoldment of the 
individual. That with those ancient people these different 
states of spirit growth in knowledge and spirituality were des- 
ignated as degrees or spheres, numbered after the traditional 
methods as now. That as one advanced from lower to higher 
spheres, the way was always open to the individual of highest 
attainments back to the beginning or rudimental. Also that 
persons in the physical life or form attract into their aura 
occult influences that are on a plane of development with them- 
selves. Therefore, persons composing a circle for spirit mani- 
festation would most likely be visited by intelligences on a 
plane with the general average of the society. And that per- 
sons by virtue of fitness secured by investigation afford better 
conditions for spirit communion. 

Hence, among those ancients, small societies were formed 
for waiting on such influences, and those sitting for higher 
phases of intercommunion admitted only such as had been fit- 
ted for admission by having the preparatory development in 
the circles below. These meetings, called lodges by tradition, 
are by Spiritualists called seances, and the persons composing 
the seance when seated for manifestations are called the circle 
and members of the circle. 

And so it was held that to be fitted to sit in a higher cir< !<• 
one must have attained to the requisite degree of spirituality. 
Patterns or styles of vestments were chosen for members of 
each successive degree, affixed with insignia designating the 
various degrees in their order, and attained by the person enti 
tied to wear the specific emblems. 

But gradually, as these seances or circles spread from an 
cient Chaldea to Egypt and into the Semitic peoples of the East, 
including what is now Turkey in Asia and within it ancient Pal 
cstine, much of its original spiritual significance was lost. This 
is shows by the writer or writers of the legend or story of 
Moses, in which the leading character is represented as learned 
in the wisdom of the Egyptians. All the sacred writings of the 
Orient, when read in the light of these disclosures, become ra 
tionally understandable. The Vedas, the Koran, the Christian 
writings — all have lost the ancient inspiration and taken on 
the traditions of priesthood. Medinmship now explains the 
characteristics of the seers, prophets, ami oracles. Angels were 
but messenger spirits, former human beings. 



472 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

So with the legends of Masonry, its lodges, degrees, em- 
blems, and symbols, originally veiling spiritual truths and 
covered up under a system of ancient trades unions. (See 
"Bending the Vail," paragraphs 927, 928.) But some of the em- 
blems and part of the secret work of the craft as referring to 
the ancient spiritual seances, out of which the fraternity came 
down the ages, have been lost; and here comes a spirit, giving 
his name as Ogon, and appears clothed with what he calls "the 
complete Masonic coronal," presenting the perfect work as 
known to ancient Egypt. (See portrait, page 403.) 

This secretary does not belong to the craft, but the spirit 
gave him a partial reading of the lost emblems and work, al- 
though spirits do not give much of the work to one not a mem- 
ber of the brotherhood and regularly entitled to the same. 



APPENDIX D. 

Little Ruth. 

1298. Little Buth (see page 430) is one of Zelda's pupils. 
(Paragraph 1211.) Perhaps this Buth is daughter of Bachel 

Ann John (page 252), who is sister to N , this secretary. 

("Bending the Vail," 31.) It is not because this is a sister to 
the secretary, but because the case is one of a class of many 
thousands of similar cases, and because this particular case 

was susceptible of identification by N , that the spirits, 

having charge of this work, chose this case to illustrate this 
class of conditions, and intimate to the psychic student the 
great schemes in the economy of Nature by which she ulti- 
mately gathers into her illimitable garners the ripened har- 
vests of all the seeds she ever sows: and to present to man- 
kind lessons which, being heeded, might assist Nature in work 
ing out her ultimate designs to the advantage of mankind in 
the coming ages. 

It was not until one year after closing these seances that 

N got hold of the facts concerning the immediate cause of 

the premature transition of sister Ann. And now that the 
reader may have advantage of such facts as seem necessary 
to the case, we may be excused in retrospecting so far as wo 
have learned. 

Some eighteen years before the beginning of these seances, 
sister Ann married at the homestead in Washington County, 
Indiana, and immediately accompanied her husband to their 

home several hundred miles away, and N never again met 

her in the physical life. In due course of time there was one 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 4.73 

son of this union, who yet survives. And, later still, perhaps 
three years from the marriage, she had a fetal abortion, 
brought on by taking calomel or some other violent purgative 
in an over-dose, as prescribed and insisted on by a physician 
or some very confidential friend, which she now, in spirit, says 
she "felt she ought not to take, but did so just to please"; and 
from the complication, blood-poison caused her transition. 

And it is now said by some who were present when she 
was about to pass out of her body that she became both clair- 
voyant and clairaudient — could both see her spirit friends with- 
in the room and could hear tliem talk — and thus the spirit mes- 
sengers were enabled to assist her through the gates with joy 
and peace to her. 

What Became of That Fetal Life? 

(K, Y., 2130,2131, 2141 a, 2248J.) 

1299. On the evening of the oth day of June, 1890, at the 
second seance for "Rending the Vail," sister Ann made her 
presence and identity known in materialized form, and thence- 
forward, at different seances, for nearly two years she ap- 
peared, always holding in her hands the appearance of an 
exceedingly small babe, and would claim it as "my little girl- 
baby," but never would give any explanation, and N , never 

having been apprised of the cause of her death, farther than 
that it was some kind of fever, was unable to understand what 
the appearance of the little babe meant. 

At the seances of 1899 and 1900 for "Beyond the Vail," 
sister Ann sometimes was in visible form, but did not present 
the form of a babe in her hands or arms. In making illustra- 
tions for this book, the spirit artist made one which is found 
on page 252, recognized as a good likeness, in many respe< ts, 
of this sister Ann, and she said: "That is my picture/' And 
the artist made another picture, found on page 430, which pre- 
sents so many features in common with the picture of sister 
Ann as to lead us to conclude that the two pictures are undoubt- 
edly pictures of mother and daughter, and after we so r< 
nized the pictures, the spirits informed us that we had guessed 
the true intention of the pictures and that the picture of the 
child is designed as an illustration of the personality and work 
of one called in spirit Little Buth, and of whom Reed speaks in 
his description of work in the spirit world. (1207 1210.) 

If the reader will turn back and read carefully all of last 
above reference, he or she will be prepared to discern what has 
became of our fetal life in question: That, just as "Ruth was 
o;iven in charge of Little Peg, and. by the assistance of Dr. TCeed, 



474 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

got Little Peg into a cosy little home in spirit life and changed 
the name Margaret or Peg to Crystal, because Little Peg was 
becoming such a beautiful spirit, so some qualified spirit mes- 
senger was given charge of the spark of life eternal that es- 
caped from this fetus in question, garnered it away and cared 
for it and named it Ruth, in designation of the messenger work 
it would be qualified to do. But, ere this, Ruth has grown to 
adult condition, passed all the schools of Zelda, and is climb- 
ing the eternal mountains of grandeur and intelligence that 
the spirit Thomas Paine so eloquently portrays in "Rending the 
Vail." (R. V., 2455-2459.) 

Purpose of This Case. 

1300. Perhaps part of the purpose of this spirit band in 
presenting this case in the manner in which it is done is to 
further assist the psychic student and the student of medical 
jurisprudence who may chance to peruse these pages, in learn- 
ing that, 

(a) From a period exceedingly early in fetal life it con- 
tains an organized spirit entity that survives destruction by 
whatever cause of the fetal body. 

(&) That the tiny spirit is received into the tender care of 
kind messenger spirits, who look after its welfare, much the 
same as would have been the case with it in this world, had 
the child been permitted its natural birth alive in its physical 
body. 

(c) That such children have appropriate names assigned to 
them on the spirit side. 

(d) That they grow to adult condition in spirit life the 
same as they would have done had they been born and lived 
the natural life on earth. 

(e) That educational facilities are as carefully looked after 
in the spirit world as under the most favorable conditions they 
could be on earth. 

(f) That herein is a field of philanthropy furnishing de- 
lightful employment to many thousands of spirits whose nat- 
ural needs and demands are for this kind of work. 

(g) That Nature, for every abortion of a life-development, 
has provided an ample compensatory equivalent; though it may 
require mor # e duration to accomplish the purpose, yet she has 
infinite duration on which to draw. 

(h) That destruction of the physical body, prematurely, by 
any personal force, whether voluntary or not, does not destroy 
the individuality of the spirit; therefore does not get rid of 
the personality. (R, V., 2248£ a.) 



BEYOND THE VAIL. 475 

(i) That whoever diverts the natural course of a life is 
not thereby free from that life; but some time will meet that 
life in personality, face to face, and then — the judgment of con- 
science according to original intent, or inexcusable ignorance. 
(R. V., 2541-2547.) 

"In the case at bar," doubtless Rachel is glad to find her 
tiny waif passed on to a beautiful and useful woman spirit in 
the great spirit world. 

Thus closes our gift of experiences in the lower spheres. 
How long before suitable conditions can be had for a circle 
to receive experiences fvom higher spheres through material- 
izations "doth not yet appear." 



GENERAL INDEX. 



This index is made to the names of the various communing spirits 
and to subject matter given, corresponding with the paragraphs designated 
by the numbers set opposite in the right margin — where page is meant, the 
word "page" is used. 

When the desired subject matter is not found in its regular alpha- 
betic order, then search under the name of the spirit most likely to have 
given it. 

Thus, to find the subject "Proper Treatment of Children," under the 
name "Ingersoll" it is found and the reference 829 d 

Then, turning to the paragraph numbered 829, the matter is found, 
^wiitinuing to subdivision d. 

A. 

Paragraphs. 

Abbott, Emma, writes and hands to Van Horn 719 

continues her writing 735 

" introduces herself 1234 

" her experience as an actress 1235 

her first visit to a spirit playhouse 1236 

says plays superior— morally elevating 1237 

" talks on one subject while writing on another 1239 

Aber, Isabella, appeared a moment, vanished 107 

Isaac, announces the name 549 

Lorenzo, writes experience 44, 64, 65 

" assists in arranging for the book 57 

" gives cheering words 250 

" receives his son Wesley into spirit life 251 

predicts a happy entrance for medium 252 

thanks secretary for report 259 

" his spirit portrait made (not inserted) 280 

" " " writings 1158 

" experiences in lower spheres 1159 

" description in higher spheres met ribald jests 1 160 

" tells of missionaries in lower spheres 1161 

met a missionary who had been a dark spirit 1162 

" tells of infanticide restored to light 1163 

" continues narrative 1164 

" the child's solicitations unheeded 1 1 ''•■" 



478 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Aber, Wesley, addresses the circle 8 

" desires co-operation 18 

" his manner of vocalization 77 

" says many interested we know not of 77 a 

" " the work will go on while the world stands 77 a 

" some look this way and then that 77 a 

" some look both ways, progress slowly 77 a 

" the lowly earth lives furnish work here 77 & 

" " they ought to there , 77 6 

" " great need of reform work on earth 77 h 

" " was a Spiritualist and prepared to go 77 c 

" has not been idle a moment since 77c 

" met one his companion now , 77 d 

we are trying to bring the lowly to the light 77 d 

" talks on musical effects while passing the gates 85 

" talks of revelations from higher spheres Ill 

" talks of training the children, best messengers to 
higher spheres, lower spheres, and to lead dark- 
ened ones to light 161-163 

" says they decide not to admit dark spirits here 172 

" prevented suicide of a lady 190 

" touched her just as she would leap 190 d 

and she thinks her father touched her 190 e 

" says all houses are haunted 210 

" the rescued one realizes spirits . .• 218 

" healers in spirit life by profession 289 

spirits do not depend on drugs 2?,') 

" spirits do healing by spirit magnetism 239 d 

" his experience with a miser 267 

" with those who had been hanged 323 

with some hanged who were innocent. .324 

" says at last actual murderer confessed and died 324 e 

" says criminals go over with passions excited and reflect 

their passions back to earth 329 

" says the earth, not spirit world, the place to reform 329 c 

foreshadows homes of the good 330 b 

says pure spirits manifest not evil 331 

not so much evil spirits as ignorance of mortals 332 

the wonderful ignorance of mortal man 333 

"Rending the Vail" doing good 364 e 

, " singing through trumpet 398 

speaks of prophecy 426 

" Easter Sunday and resurrection 427 & 

" ours to learn and apply ameliorating conditions 428 d 

" spirit philanthropy 429 o 



INDEX. 47 ( J 

Paragraphs' 

Aber, Wesley, gives a writing, under crucial test conditions 794 

t " " as amanuensis ... , 859 

Aber, Walter, announces bis name 79 

Actress, Abbott, Emma 1234-1239 

Agatba, an Egyptian spirit, belps in the work here 263, 495, 520 

Alden, Adrian, recognized by Mr. Pratt. 652 

Allen, Ethan, meets many friends in spirit 301 

whom he met on spirit side 302 

works for humanity 302*£ 

his relative condition 302 c 

would relive about as he did first on earth 302^ h 

Allen, Pike, writes hi.3 experience 1229 

" first experience in spirit 1230 

" w T if e comes to him 1231 

" a nurse in charge of insane 1232 

" " hospitals for the insane 1233 

Amanuensis 831, 839, S42 

Ames, John, killed in a cyclone 173 

" his Spiritualism did him good 173 a 

Ancient, in unknown tongue 444 

" Gautama the Buddha, portrait made 145 

" Gautama the Buddha, portrait set in at 480 

" speaks unknown tongue 477 

Animals in spirit life 801-802 b, 922 

Anonymous spirit — his experience 283, 808 

died when a little child 283 a 

excelled, in learning, some that lived long on the earth. .283 b, c 

Arabian, portrait made 460 

Atkinson, facts bring the light 1025, 1026 

Architecture, schooling, music 1 221-1 228 

Armstrong, George, realizes his spiritual teaching 195 

" " soon met some in darkness and told them what ho • 

knew, and that gave him light ahead 195 <1 



Baird, John, converted in spirit life L ° 9 ^ 

" " grand playhouse 10f) ' 

Bancroft, Sarah, tells an experience 93 1 ' 

" " meets her grandfather 932 

awakes and beholds the beauty of the spirit world . . .933 

« " a beautiful realm of rest 934 

" " her work in spirit life 935 

Barber, Jennie, to her brother. Robert Barber 260 

« " and her father of same rank, work diffors 260 h 

** « illustrates, met old lady, tired, helped her 261 



480 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

Paragraphs, 

Barber, Jennie, caught a child in her arms and bore it to its prepara- 
tory condition 262 a 

" " portrait made 290, 292- 

" " portrait set in at 516 

Earr, Eliza, some of her experience 903 

Earr, Polly, portrait 895 

made at 896 

" recognized by Dr. Barr 897 

" " as a test, considered 898-902 

Beecher, H. W., too advanced for his congregation 104 

" " found matters different from his teaching 104 a 

" " " suppressed his light too much 104 b 

" " " addresses the circle 404) 

" " erroneous teachings darkened him 405 b, c 

" " " found some in darkness on account of errors taught. .405 d 

Beeson, John, of Spring Hill, recognized 463 

" " speaks of his earthly life 576 

Berry, Jeanette, discovers her mistake , 119 

" " thought the medium, her brother, a strange boy and 

rejected her mother's Spiritualism; now asks 

mother to forgive 119 a-n 

Best. Victoria, tells of her happy life 953 

" " helps inebriates 954 

her field of labor illimitable 955 

Bigelow, Mary, her work in spirit life 20fr 

tells her daughter, Mrs. Steward, that h£r work is to 

assist undeveloped ones 200 a-b 

Blaine, James G., speaks of his defeat 349 

" " finds politics injured him and some politicians are 

slow to reach seventh sphere 349 a 

Bledsoe, General, recognized 728 

Big Moon, Indian chief, comes to help 551 

Boling, Jesse, recognized by secretary 988 

talk explained by secretary 989 

" " secretary musing 990-992 

Brann, W. C, the iconoclast 325, 345 

" " did believe better conditions than he found here 345 a 

" " experience at some length 345 b-g 

" " introduces himself to Van Horn 376 

Brewster to Dr. Barr said: "Hello!" 882 

Bonaparte, Napoleon, greets circle 569, 643 

Josephine, announces her name 572 

Borgia, Lucretia, reputation vindicated 1070% 

messenger finds her a beautiful home 1071 

gives experience of her transition 1072 

" occupation in spirit life 1073 



INDEX. 481 

Paragraphs. 

Britt, Dr., recognized by Mr. House 940 

Bromond, Paul, announced his name 697 

Brooks, Susie, to Mrs. Lamb 882 

Brown, Joseph, speaks of his beautiful life 576 

Bucannana, Dr., 805-807 

Bruster, George, 882 

Burns, Harry, 924 

Burns, Robert, 1 749 

C 

Campbell, David, sarcasm on creation 1126 

Trinity and devil gone 1126 a 

wishes he had known of Spiritualism 1126 & 

Camp-meeting assemblages. 913, 914 

Capital punishment condemned 128, 337^ a 

Carter, is past the dying — many are scared at that 883-885 

Carr, ,Richard, what he finds 939 d 

Cary, Alice, 320 

" " experience 834 

" recites "Isle of the Blest" 834 

Carr, Richard, .939 

Caroline, schoolmate of Mrs. House 643 

Carter, a spirit denies that God sent the Galveston flood 883 

Channing, W. E., short address 446 a 

Changes necessary 1008 c 

Chase, Warren, Denton 147 

Chesney, Mary, and Galveston flood 836 c 

" Emma, by amanuensis, caring for the flood-sufferers 842 h 

Children, educational training 1064-10j67 

educational three rules 1065, 1066. 1067 

" proper treatment of Ingersoll 829 d 

Chilesworth, Dr 31 

Christian science as Denton sees it 936-937 h 

Crystal 1210 

Church growing less popular — fosters war spirit 824-826 

Clark, Dr., Mrs. Miller's physician 985 

" " conscience stricken 9S5V2 

" knowledge of Spiritualism of advantage 986 

Clay, Henry, promises a message 115. 295 

" Matt, to Van Horn 696 

Clayton, Wm., dictated S87-S94 

Clemens, Annie, on diversities in spirit life 24 a-i 

" " once in darkness, now in light 341 

" " distributes flowers to circle 71 fl 



BV- 



482 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Coffin, Erastus, scale of intellectuality 197 a-b 

" " true education 198 

one may have book learning and not pass in spirit 

schools 198 a 

brains must differ 198 o 

" " mind — a definition of , 198 c 

" " his widow modifies her name 694 

" scares a brother preacher (spirit) 693 

" " recognized by his revivalist actions 682 

" elder, benediction, revival, chicken 683 

" " invites a preacher to visit seance '. 684 

" " corrects mistake of secretary 685 

portrait, law of deflection, Chapter XIV 1276 

tests in R. V., pages 91 and 92, par. 493 exemplified. .1276 

has quit preaching orthodoxy 760 

Converting the world. Denton 1020 d 

Cook, David 1027 

" Delia ♦. ..63 

Cooper, Ellen Clayton, Mrs. J. H. Pratt's mother 653 

Comb, George, phrenology true 837 

identified by Dr. Schellhous 837 

Concannon, Belle 644 

Cooper, Peter, addresses circle 1114 

Copas, not tailoring now 126 

Cortez, conqueror of Mexico 827 

Govetousness 1261-1270 c 

Craycraft, Sally 515 

Cremation, Mrs. Wellington 757 

Crowell, Mary, 871 

Cunningham, Mary, experience, portrait 151-155 

D. 

Danner, Dr., did reside at Spring Hill 114 

Darwin, Charles, finds errors in his works 840 

Davis, Tom, the sailor 944-947 

Dawning to wandering one, portrait 90 

Dayton, Margaret, teaching children 810 

Deflection 1277 

Delirium tremens, Denton 36 d 

Dementia 1229-1233 

Denton, Prof. Wiliam, 5 n-i 

" addresses Mr. Pratt 5 d-j 

" pongee, peculiar conditions 34, 35 a 

" delirium tremens 36 d 

effect of wealth 45 c 



INDEX. 483 

Paragraphs. 

Denton, Prof. William, diversities of conditions 47 a-c 

" " " organizations — brotherhoods 67 a-/ 

" " " encourages the circle 67 a-f 

" " " was radical, soon found obstacle of ignorance. .67 <j 

" " " speaks of Grace, she is benefited by writing 6S 

" " " spirit aids her to write her narrative 68 a 

helps to lead four newborn spirits into light. .74 a-d 
" " " first approached the least child, then it ap- 
proached the others 74% c 

" " " on spirit side, old age exchanged for youth.... 84 a 

" " spirits could not return without conditions 84 6 

" " " favors some merriment. 98 a 

" " " material things have counterpart in spirit 100 a 

" speaks of auditorium, great meetings of spirits, 
their purposes, their work, their emissaries, 

manner of executing their work ...101 e-li 

" " " met a man who had been helped — the emis- 
saries 102 b 

" " " Advises circles to treat dark spirits tenderly. .102 c-f 
" " " relieved some innocent cnes of dark condi- 
tions 159 c 

" " " describes the drawing (160) of leading the 

child 160 c 

" " " congratulates secretary 141 

" " war, its effects as learned from spirits from 

battle-fields 180 a-e 

'* " " no sickness in spirit life 181 

" " " met some praying, some weeping, some cursing, 

some jolly — none of them from higher ' 

spheres 183 

" " with the praying ones and why their prayers 

are not answered 185, I 

" " tells why their prayers are not answered 186 

" tells that human spirits are the prayer-answer- 
ing power 186% c 

« **. '* helps the weeping young lady spirit to 

reach her mother on earth, and the 

mother was comforted 187. 18K o-B 

got the lady to know that philanthropic spirits 

answer prayer 189 

speaks of haunted houses at great length. ...203 n-j 

" found one there who had been a theologian 204 

<* « tells the theological teachers and believers why 

ho has tho advantage of them 205 c 

« « tells of his own earthly teachings 206 a-f 



484 BEYOND THE VAJL. 

Paragraphs. 

Denton, Prof. William, tells the misguided ones how to get out of their 

darkness 207 b 

" " prophesies of change to he soon 209 

" gives warning about National Scientific Asso- 
ciation and foundation this light to be placed 

upon 209% 

says "Beyond the Vail" the greater book 241 

spirits speaking not strange 258 

depressed mortals assisted by spirits 270 d 

" " commends a visitor 286 

tells Mrs. House not to be too hasty to go 299 

speaks of new elements introduced 303 a-c 

" " met an indolent, stubborn one 304 c 

" doubts propriety of admitting strangers . .352 

" helped a suicide out of darkness 354 

the new member must be worked up into 

rapport for our use 360 f 

" " " we have to overcome prejudice of spirits as 

well as mortals 361 

" " " the world now demands proof 369 

" we are not back here to hunt gold 370 

recommends Dr. Schellhous 381, 392 

" " discusses effect of weather conditions and new 

parties 392 a-f 

" " conditions and religious contention 437, 438 

" " conditions and results of 452, 432 

" " " desires of spirits differ as to returning to this 

life 471 7? 

confirms Reed and secretary 476, 478 

" " " confirms Paine on Christ and Josie 479, 480 

" " continues as to Jesus of Nazareth and Bible. .490-492 

on silent and absent treatment 523 

conditions at Spring Hill. 537 <J 

" birds in spirit world 553 1 4 

" " magnetic healing 555 a-b 

ethical conditions as to persons and gov- 
ernments 564-567 b 

" the true and the false ethics 564-567 h 

" you waste your time on politics 584 

" on temperance — crime — India 587-588 

blessed is he that receives nothing — lucky if 

otherwise 695 

plenty of work for all in spirit life 618 

wishes to settle the God question 670 a-c 

discusses politics versus "right of man" 681 b 

as to this collection of psychic facts 681 c-e 



INDEX. 



485 



Denton, Prof. William 



Paragraphs, 
meets one who perished crossing the plains. .736-737 

spirits not called, but come on purpose 712-713 

meets Wesley teaching one by lesson of ex- 
perience 714-715 

discusses degrees of intelligence, some spirits 

oppose this return 772-773 

materialization — we can only explain to a lim- 
ited degree, it is too far beyond earthly at- 
tainments for mortals' as yet to understand. .790 c 
discusses the questions of animals in spirit 

life, writes on the subject 800-802 b 

answers why some change so suddenly after 

transition 816-818 

says many doubters take no sensible step to 
learn what the truth is, but question every- 
thing 818.6 

who but a dweller in spirit shall know of spirit. .819 
we allow no incapable one to report to you, and 
when here you will find these reports true as 
though -reported by mortals of their earth 

experiences 820 

by this Galveston catastrophe you see uncer- 
tainty of life 822 

had they known of spirit return, it would have 

proved a blessing to them 823 

people make more inquiry than formerly 824 

the so-called church does much to keep your 
world in darkness and to transplant that dark- 
ness to spirit life 825 

the church fosters war 825 a 

the soul life policy that brings peace is that 

which recognizes the brotherhood of man 826 

prophesies and fulfillment 841 

persecutions of Paine 866 

inventions next thirty years will surpass 
those of past fifty years — patterns of them 

now in spirit life 876-877 

in spirit one gradually grows out of selfish- 
ness 880 6 

animals in spirit life 801-802 & 

" but not in higher spheres .802 h 

converting the world 1 ^20 d 

we endeavor to choose the best to present 104H 

attended a musical entertainment 1094 

sums up the work 1125 

leads Little Myrtle to her parents 1128 ft 



486 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Denton, Prof. William, benediction 1150, 1150 a 

Diogenes, finds an honest man 510 

" Rachel, self-luminous 521 

" " lived a good life — portrait 347 

Donally, Elder, his experience rather dark. . . . 503 f 

" " his mistaught daughter .504 a-J) 

his father, a priest, to Col. Van Horn 663 

Draper, J. W., 116 

Dueling, Judge Terry 943 

Durrant, Theodore, 488 

Dunlap, as he awakened, saw people, then light, landscapes, mountains, 

animals, pet Nick, stream of water 921 a 

" signification of streams of water 922 

Dwight, Gena 798 

E. 

Easter Sunday, resurrection 427 

Edmondson, Mrs., benevolent societies .1120-1121 

Education, harmonious development 198 

Edwards, E. S., message to his wife 76 

" " a splendid make-up 447 

" " speaks of Paine's eulogy 679 

Mrs. E. S., explains 1068^ 

" " " experience in spirit life 1120* 

" " " speaks to the secretary 758 

Elite, Ed., to Mrs. Lamb 614 

Ellsler, Fanny, an actress 1022 

" " experience in spirit 1022^ 

" '■ " in transition 1023 

" " to her sisters of the foot-lights 1024 

Embalming, 1242 

Environments, determine conditions 960 

" of ante-natal conditions 961 

of diversity necessary to progress 962 

Erroneous verdicts of juries 129 

Etherealizations 94, 95 

Experiences, washerwoman 40 i, 51, 52, 53 

Executioner, hangman, sheriff 963-978 

" musings of secretary as to 979-980 

F. 

Faculties, retained in spirit life 26^ 

Faith, a spirit on a strange mission 1186, 1187 

" granted special privileges — prospects gone 1188, 1189 

" sold into slavery — forced to marry a negro 1190 



INDEX. 487 

Paragraphs. 

Faith drowns herself 1191 

wakes up in spirit in glad surprise 1192 

husband suffers and will for ages 1193 

tells of the slave-dealer's hard fate. 1194 

Faraday, Prof. Michael, his work in this hook 271 

Father King, to the circle 8 

salutes the circle 625 

Fiske, James, terrible experience 144 

Forms, numerous and brilliant 591 

Freeman, Justin, lived above Covington, Ky ...739 

Fruit, in spirit life, counterpart of earth 700 

Fulton's trial trip up Hudson 56 

" speaks of improved navigation 273 



G. 



Galileo, excuses recanting 300 a-t. 

" portrait 312 

Paine's eulogy on 313 

Galveston, inundation 821%-823 

Garfield, J. A., astonished at this work 366 

Gasaway, Summerfield and wife 178 

George L, of England, speaks 568 

Gile, Abner, experience 803, 804 5 

Girard, Stephen, tells of his spirit life 672 

" " deplores the curse of priestcraft 1127 

experience with Little Myrtle 1128 

" Constantinian Christianity a curse 1127 b 

Goebel, tragic death 487 

Willie, of Ferris, Texas 616 

Grace, begins and continues narrative 66, 72, 93, 105, 122 

continues 137, 138, 150 

concludes at 170 

her death-bed scene illustration made 123, 1166 

sketch of early life 1167 

" first downward step 1168 

" warned by her mother 1169 

" consents to clandestine marriage 1170 

flight from home ' 1171, 1172 

" goes to New York — mock marriage 1173 

betrayal and desertion 1174, 1175 

" vain search for her betrayer 1176 

seeks employment, but fails 1177 

" resolves on suicide 1178 

warns others of her fatal crime 1179 



488 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

1'aragrapbs. 

Grace, sees and weeps over her dead body 1180 

painful reflections in spirit 1181 

receives aid from higher spheres 1182 

" in spirit life sought, found, and tormented him 1183 

met her father 1184 

has at last a beautiful home 1185 

Grant, U. S., sees no good in politics 1092 1 /2 

Gray, Nellie, little spirit messenger, never born 23 

rejoices at Reed's written narrative of her 348 

" tells of her messenger work 497 

" a tall woman appears with her 698 

" in gorgeous array 731 

Gray, Mrs., earthly riches vanity — spiritual the true 1119" 

Green, Louis, speaks of another world 923 

Greenup, J. L., experiences in spirit life 220 

" " was a preacher — has found the Bible impractical 632 

Alice, answers to her father 575 

H. 

Hale, Bishop, endorses Donally's speech > 505 

Hindoo speaks 508 

Holliday, C. K., 367 

Hancock, John 650 

Hangman, sheriff, remarks of secretary 963-980 

Hare, Prof., gives his name 393V 2 

" " assists in work of the circle 529 

Haunted houses, Denton at length , 203, 204 

Hays, of Lawrence, Kansas 28 

Heaven and hell, conditions of one's own soul 130, 131, 134 a 

Heaven illustrated 1202, 1206 

Heavenly condition helping others help themselves 132 

Hell is mental torture 1200 

Henry, Patrick, visits circle 649 

Herrmann, the magician 148 

Hindoo speaks 50B 

Hitchcock, Rev., finds things different 1021 

" is now a convert 1021 a-c 

Hobart, late Vice-President 664 

Hodge, Harry, rough experience 638 a-e 

Hortense announces her name 574 

House, Jefferson meets his brother of the circle. 174 

" Alice, greets her father, Cornelius 517 

" biography 994 

" portrait 82 

" description of ..' 995 



INDEX. 489 

Paragraphs. 

House, Alice, experience in spirit life 996 

conducted to her mother's home 997 

describes her mother's home 998 

" visits spiritual postoffice. 999 

tells how the postal service is utilized 1000 

is a teacher in spirit life 1001 

father to his son Cornelius 523 

Mary, to Cornelius and Mrs. B. House 535 

is a teacher, tells how they teach and have to be pure. .535 a-b 

Hugo, Victor, , .502 

Hunter, Miss, a beautiful experience 1085-1089 

Hypocrites gain nothing by being such 1057 

I. 

Ignorance not as bad as error .- 927 

Ignorant spirits advance slowly 526 

Illustrations, process of making 32 a-e 

'ndian comes to give magnetic help 253 

says Indians help much in this work 938 

Idiots, none in spirit world 455 

Infanticide 1163-1165 a 

Ingersoll addresses circle 7 

did not investigate 69 

acknowledges his mistake 117, 118 

his work was to break superstition 228 

tells of the beauties of spirit world 406 

hell predicted for him not found 407 

takes up Beecher's lamentation 408 

speaks to the circle 705 

on original sin and redemption 827 

children, proper treatment of 829 d 

corrects error of secretary 844 

world wealth overestimated 845, 846 

rich man fettered by wealth 847 

greatness of spiritual work here 870 

exhorts to work diligently on 675 

comments on a personal God 1005 

on responsibility 1091, 1092 

proper treatment of children 829 d 

speaks of this work and his occupation 870 & 

Inventions, patterns in spirit life 876-877 



Jackson, Andrew, recognized by circle 411 

says, "Yes, this is Old Hickory" 412 



490 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Jackson, Andrew, deprecates war 610 

Mary, gives experience 627, 828 

James, Jesse, thinks he was not so bad as reported 874 

Jenkinson, Thomas, recognized . 441 

John, reports progress 114 

Jenkins, Lieut, of the Maine 941 

" experience 196 

Jesus materialized and talked 990 

Joan of Arc, speaks, gives her name 21, 22, 314 

" experience 315 

no pain while tortured 316 

continues her work — her persecutors, and is now caring 

for children 318-319 

John, Rachel Ann 651 

" portrait 678 

Johnson, Tilly, never was in darkness 166 

" Narcissa, a few words 724 

Jones, S. S., rejoices in this good work 853 

" " comments on his son-in-law, Col. B 854 

Josie (Jesus) , a great medium 491 d 

* K. 

Kaliff makes a speech 1147-1149 

Keepers, Fred, talks to mother and sister 768-770 

Mary, 781-781% c 

Kirk, Patrick, to Mrs. House 741 

Kossuth, experience of 501% 

Kindergartens 810 

Lace-weaver, making pongee 25 

Lady from higher spheres 1145, 1146 

Lamb, Dr. J. B., experience of 62 

" " " address to his wife 597 

" " " encourages cause of reform 654 

" " " " address to the circle 625 

" " " " conference with his wife 659 

" " " on the subliminal theory 1035 

" " " writing 1137 

" " " intemperate habits, lingering effects 655 

Emma, interviews mother-in-law 658 

to Mrs. J. B. Lamb 611 

solicitude for the little babe 613 

Henry, talks with his mother 599 

biography 600-604 

writings 623. 636. 647, 1219 

" first efforts to soothe mother's grief 1220 



INDEX. 491 

Paragraphs. 

Lamb, Henry, resumes study of music 1221 

musical studio 1222, 1223 

" describes the master 1224 

" sister plays violin 1225 

" " becomes a pupil 1226 

" often visits spirit sister 1227 

" visits magnificent playhouses 122S 

" " while writing, talks with mother 624 

" Charles, full of devil as ever 630 

" Junie, speaks with her father, J. W. Lamb, of Muncie, 

Indiana , 669, 677 a-f 

Lamont, Blanche, declares Durrant innocent 872 

Learning, mountain of — temple of 909-911 

Levy, Mary, to Van Horn 377 

Lily of the brook, her glorious way, rides in a carriage, and taken 

to her parents' home 1086-1089 

Lincoln, Abraham, addresses secretary 58 a-f 

" lays down premises 60 ag 

" " saddened at distress 89 

" " oration, how he sees things 334-339 c 

" " hopes for better men in government 1092 

Livingstone, the explorer, speaks 868, 869 

Lost spirits, Denton.. 755 

Lucy expresses gratitude 356 

M. 

Masonry, probable origin and development of 1297 

Materialization in accord with law 709 fc 

790 

wonderful display of 1137 

Material things no hindrance to spirits 715 

Martindell, her vocation in spirit life 1112 

McCracken, Kate, identification and biography 904 

" " talks with her husband 906 

" " sensations on reaching spirit life 907 

McGee, Milton, recognized by Van Horn 374 

relates a joke !099 

" " writes on a slate 726 

McGuire, Mrs., brief account 459 

Means of leading darkened ones to light 194 

Medium's control materializes • 1° 79 

Messengers, training of 1211-1215 

Mexican, speaks Spanish 461 

Misery — necessary — Denton 942 a 

Millor, Carrie, experience 590, 695 



492 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Miller, Frank, portrait recognized 1116 

Henry, Frank's father 1117 

Mary, talks with daughter 982 

" " describes spirit world, benefits of a good life on earth. .983, 984 

Miner and circle have a dialogue 282 

Missionaries 1161, 1162, 1163 

Mode of travel in spirit world 304^ 

Money not needed in spirit world 702 

Morals of Spiritualism 1074, 1075 

" "Beyond the Vail" 917-919 

Mott, Harvey, to Van Horn 727 

Mary, recognized by Van Horn 725 

Morgan, Lillie, in darkness at death 458 

Mozart greets the circle 502 

Music teaching 1218, 1226 

N. 

Newton, Sir Isaac, 642 

New Yorker, a spirit bewildered , 722, 723 

" " appears again much improved 738, 756 

" found his name, Lee, and what a seance is 771 

Nine female forms, different size, appearance 560 

Nixon, Ann, recognizes her portrait 67S 

Priscilla, speaks to her brother 39 

" Zechariah, singing .3* 

O. » 

Oblivionist, horrible thoughts 1047 

O'Brien, Daniel, introduced 30 

" " alive with witticisms 46 

" " stirs up mirthfulness 96 

" " no Catholic, but agnostic 97 

" his experiences in spirit life 107-110 

" " makes a lively discourse 123-125 

" Daniel and the lions' den, Jonah and the whale 142, 143 

tells of his work 167 

" " not a "bad egg" 211 

address to J. H. Pratt 249 

" spirited controversy with Sam 284 

" eulogizes Brann — glad of this "open door" 327 

" hunts and brings in material 507 

" speaks again 550 

" salutes Mr. Pratt 583 

" enlivens the circle 830 



INDEX. 493 

Paragraphs. 

O'Brien, Daniel, the Galveston calamity 878 

" meets Irishman from Cork — his test 1151 

O'Conner, speaks to the circle 1056 

priest promises to pray out of purgatory 1059 

" finds theology mostly false 1060 

Odd jobs, professor of 1122 a-c 

Odd Fellows spirits in regalia 489 

Ogon wearing the perfect Masonic coronal clothing 1129 

Olney, Mamie . 811 

Omar, Margaret, says O-g-o-n is the name 1130 

Oral statement of the spirit 1036 

Olney, Mamie, desires to reach her parents 78 

was a resident of Spring Hill 177 

" points toward her parents' home 248 

" thinks her people will learn only by some sad experience. .811 

Original sin and redemption absurdity 827, 828 

Owen, Robert Dale, talks to circle 929 

" lectures to large assemblies in spirit 929 a 

" Spiritualism on solid foundation 929 J) 

" " " is for benefit of all 929 h 

P. 

Paine, Thomas, on materialization 222-225 

argues with a misled spirit 229 

lived close to Nature 230 

experience with indolent ones 231 

" " refers to Fulton's trial trip 244 

" refers to Dr. Lardner's opposition to steam navigation .. 245 

" even some Spiritualists cannot comprehend that 

Thomas Paine can thus talk 246 & 

first great fact 277 

his books foreshadowed that fact. . . y 278 

" spirit return a glorious fact, not in Paradise, but 

a good country, out of the old palsied bodies 340 a-c 

goes where he can do most good 350 

no other system proves continuous life 380 

" " speaks to Mr. Nadig — thus opens the way 439 

" " the only reincarnation 470 

" his eulogy of Mrs. Edwards 671 

" " discusses materialization 708, 709 

" invited Voltaire to seance 859 

" " speaking of theology, hell, and redemption 860-864 

desires suppression of money power 881 

" " repeats his motto 1061 

" " photograph of his bust at Washington. 1098 



494 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Paine, Thomas, speaks on his accustomed theme 1123 

world begins to think — the gray dawning 1123 a 

persecutions of — by Denton 866 

Parsons, the alleged Haymarket anarchist 852 

Parish, who murdered his partner 322 

Patterson, Mark, to Mrs. J. B. Lamb 614 

Parsons, Albert R., declares his innocence 852 

Peacock, Willie, relates experience 355 

' " " sinks out of sight — rises again 740 

Photograph of Paine — comments by spirits 1098 

Photography, spirit 1273-1275 

Pierce, Isaac, recognized by Dr. Schellhous 1002, 1003 

Pierpont, John, addresses the circle 6 

Pilate, Pontius, speaks of himself and court 538, 541 

Poe, Edgar A., promised some experience 113 

Pomeroy, Brick, recognized 75, 1026 

Pongee-making 1273 

Portraits, recognizing of 1068 h 

Portraits and illustrations — how made 32 



Portraits and Illustrations. 

1. Benevolence, work of a lady spirit 15 

2. Betty Jenkinson, n&e Hairsnape 32V2 

3. Star circle 55 

4. Delia Cook 63 

5. Alice House 82 

6. The Dawning 90 

7. Mary Cunningham 151 

8. Denton leading a child to school (page 81) 160 

9. George Armstrong 195 

10. Running Water and the peace-pipe (page 114) 253 

11. Galileo (page 133 312 

12. Rachel Diogenes 317 

13. Pap Sawyer 353 

14. Elsie, Mrs. Aber's test control (page 153) 363 

15. Andrew Anderson 380^ 

16. Frankie Schellhous (page 174) 430, 431 

17. Yushin, an Arabian 460 

18. Gautama Buddha 480 

19. The Hindoo Brahmin, Rem Mahan Rai (page 199) 508 

20. Jennie Barber 516 

21. Agatha, an Egyptian lady 520 

22. Big Moon— Squirrel Tail 651 

23. Henry Lamb 596 

24. Rachel Ann John 678 



INDEX. 495 

Paragraph^. 

25. Mary Keepers (made at 795) set in at 781 

26. Polly Barr 895 

27. Red Jacket 952 a 

28. Martha Long Tail 952 7> 

29. Mrs. Mary Miller (page 341) 982-985 

30. Isaac Pierce 1002-1003 

31. Red Feather 1017-1018 

32. David Cook 1027 

33. Eagle Wing (page 360) 1028, 1030 

34. Van Horn's test (page 363) 1034 

35. Mrs. E. S. Edwards « 1068 

36. Anson B. Whitney 1106 

37. Frank Miller (page 396) 1116 

38. Ogon, the Mason 1129 

39. Marco Bozzaris (page 405) 1134 

40. Infanticide, illustration (page 417) 1163 

41. Grace, suicides 116S 

42. Little Ruth (page 430) 1207-1210 

43. Zelda's school-building (page 432) 1211 

4$. Music studio (page 436) 1223-1228 

45. Wesley Aber (page 446) 1261-1270 c 

46. Olive B. Wells (page 449) 1271 

47. Jane Osgood Pratt (page 449) 1272 

43. Pongee-making 1273 

49. Mr. and Mrs. House sitting for (page 453) 1274 

50. Bouquet of roses 1275 

51. E. K. Coffin 1276 

Poverty and wealth compared 845-847 

Pratt, Jane Osgood 1271 

mother relates experience 247 

" mother again to her son J. H. Pratt 1062 

Prayer, and answer to prayer. 185-189 

Price, Betsey, recognized 515 

Prophecy, of a change in spiritual movement 209, 209*£ 

made January 23, 1900. 91 

made in 1890, all fulfilled .91, 92 

and fulfillment, Denton 841 

Q. 

Queen Anne and Queen Elizabeth of England 307 

R. 

Reason the flower of the soul 409 1 / o 

Reed, Dr. W. H., admonishes to patience 10 



490 BEYOND THE TAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Reed, Dr. W. H., writes his first message 19, 20 

" " " preface to written experience 33 

" " " we select from various classes 157 

" " " approves secretary's report 171 

" " " speaks of undeveloped spirits 193 

" " " begins his article "Heaven and Hell" 202,268,308,351 

concludes at 400 

" " " " admonishes Mrs. House 299 

" " " opening remarks 310 

" " " talks while writing 328 

" " " hands writing to Van Horn 371 

saying, "I am now demonstrating Spiritualism" 372 

" " " visits Mrs. House while ill 473 

" " " says spirits in higher spheres visit here 471 

" " " explains drawing at 1211 559 

" " " begins his writing on conditions 571 

" " " rapid writing, 1,000 words per minute 605, 606 

" " " prolongs life of Dr. Schellhous 634 

" " " imperfect conditions interfere with work 686 

" " " speaks of growth of Spiritualism 746 

" " " meets contending hosts 746% 

" meets Artemus Ward 751 

" " " continued 765 & 

" meets many living on dry husks 792,793 

" " " speaks of Galveston calamity 821 

" " " carries his writing to secretary 9^57 

" this work on spirit side 856 

" " " death does not end one's responsibility 1093 

" notifies that one more seance closes 1125 

" " " " makes his valedictory 1152 

" advice and benediction 1156 

" " takes part in spirit children's play 1204 

" " " led by Ruth to a death-bed scene 1207, 1208 

" " " " says mere belief in Spiritualism is naught 1251 

" " " relates example 1251-125o 

Red Feather allows Gema Watkins a pony-ride 1017 

Rembrant, Caroline, materializes 1011 

Responsibility of man to woman 1091 n 

Responsibility not ended at death 1093% 

Retribution of deceiver 335 

Richard III. announces name and fades away 641 

Rogers, the annihilationist, mistaken 484 

" speaks of beauties of earth world 848 

scientists not infallible 859 

but the Book of Nature is 859 

Roses, bouquets, human faces in flowers 1275 



INDEX. 497 

Paragraphs. 

Rose, from celestial gardens 1138 

her experience 1139-1144 

Round Tree knew Mr. Pratt's father 342 

Rowe, Joe, killed near Paola, Kas 80 

Ruskin, John, announces his name 305 

on benefits of spiritual knowledge 467 

Ruth, Little 1278 

S. ' 

Sargent, Epes , 112 

" " speaks to circle 525 

Scale of intellectuality— Coffin 197 

Seances, proper conduct of 1014-1015 

Schellhous, Frankie, experience 378, 434 

" a teacher in spirit ; 419 

" thanks her father for text 573 

Edmund, addresses circle 382, 570 

" experience 665- 

his narrative 908-915 

trains himself to be useful 383 

Anna, tells who she is 433 

" realizes beauty of spirit world 416 

Edgar, recognized by Schellhous 631 

Ralph, drowned musician, experience 831 f 

Sanford, Chester, speaks of his mother 285 

Sawyer, Pap, a suicide 353 

Schmidt, Sam, his predictions 11 

" and the small-pox scare 73 

" comments in sarcastic way 390' 

" on materialization 38 4 

" explains music, Keely force fraud 474 

" closes seance with a speech , 585 

" materializes and speaks 668 

" answers questions 680 

" corrects secretary's mistakes 687 

" aids a strange spirit 867 

" describes a proper seance-room 1014 

hard precepts and secretary's comments 1015 

Servetus, Michael , 54fr 

Sheriff, the hangman, experience 963-980 

Skinner, Arthur, brother to Mrs. Murphy 691 

Dollie, .sister 692 

Smith, Jim, the highwayman 948-950 a 

Spirit, not recognized — hot fact burned up mule 808 

photography — Indian maiden, pongee 1273 

BV 32 



498 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Spirit photography, Mr. and Mrs. House sitting for 1274 

" " without a camera 1275 

" identity 1276-1295 

" postoffice » 999-1001 

" return — cumulative evidence 1004 b 

development 1009 

Spiritualism, chases away gloom of grave 232 

advantages of at death 925 

its doctrines can be proved 925% 

alone can prove future life 1104 1 /^ 

teaches virtue and morality 1105 

various exemplifications of 1032-1034 

morals of 1074-1079 

benefit of .77, 119 a-c, 173 a, 195, 823, 1226 b 

Spiritualist, so called — may not be happy , 1251-1256 

Spiritualists should rightly use their knowledge 1257 

having means and do not relieve suffering may regret. . . .1260 

Spraggs, William, lost his life in a mine — advice 812-815 

Stockwell, Josie 871 

Suicide, helped out of darkness — Denton 354 

and its results 1168, 1176-1180 

Summers, Thomas, experience extraordinary 782-789 

Statements of secretary 103612 

Stella relates experience 442 

Stewart, Charles (see again) 31, 145 

Stillborn are schooled — Denton 956, 957 

Stone, M. B 483 

Stream across landscape 907. 912 

Swodenboi g, Emanuel 401 e 

speaks of his strange influence 102 

" meets many in darkness 403 



Taylor, Edgar, hard to get rid of old ideas 1082, 1083 

Teachers in spirit life there are for every vocation and 

cond:tion 38 f, 38 a, h, 629 a 

Terry, Judge, dueling all wrong ! 943 

Test of portrait considered by secretary 904 

Test seances 1115 6 

Test conditions, dancing, pongee 1039, 1043 

Thacher, S. O ; 916 

Thinking, merely, neither creates nor destroys 936V2 

Thompson, Zechariah, oration 542-5 15 

Thorne, Dr., follows his profession in spirit life 146 

" talks to R. T. Van Horn 721 



INDEX. 499 

Paragraphs. 

Three portraits at one seance 1133 

Transition of a good orthodox person 1248 

Two women forms appear at same time 744 

V. 

Van Horn, Charles, son of R. T. Van Horn 660, 717, 1136 

passed out in infancy, child of R. T 379 

Voltaire, theology false, its post-mortal effects 857 

'' meets a lost and wandering spirit 857, 858 e 

Von Humboldt 413 

W. 

Ward, Artemus, quotes poetry 751 

and Dr. Reed , 752 

Washington, George, experience 214 

Watkins, Gema 293 

experience 1016 e 

John, brought up in spirit life 410 

Waters, significance of 922 

Webster, Daniel 640 

Wellington, Mrs. Dr., and cremation 513 

" " " recognized by Mr. House 514 

" " writes on cremation, embalming, experience 

while body burning .1240-1243 

Wells, Olive B 1271 

West, Win, converses with Mr. House 1013 

Westbrook, Jane, experience > 175 

Westmoreland, Willie, love to mother 337 

Williams, Frank, experience 467 

Willis, Dr., experience 265 

Williams, Minnie 871 

Wilson, E. V., to Dr. Schellhous 396 

" " speaks of his earth career 494 

" says you cannot stop Spiritualism 761, 762 

Whitney, A. B., experience in spirit 1106, 1118 b 

" " earthly affections unchanged 1107 

" " glad of his ability to return i 1117 

Woman, looking for heaven and God 928 ?> 

Women forms talk in whisper 4 

first vocal music ; 1044 

Wonderful display of materializations 291 

tests given 1041 

Work, conduct of this on spirit side 856 ^ 

Wood, S. M., wonderful realistic— talks to Judge E. E. Chesney .1012 



500 BEYOND THE VAIL. 

Paragraphs. 

Wright, Lucy, found a happy condition 809 

Writing of 

Y. 

Yerma 498 

Young, Ellis 1010 

" gives name 1029 

" disgust for so-called religion 1038 

Younger, Sophia 872 

Z. 

Zelda writes 387, 423, 449, 472, 482 

" her writings at 1205, 1211, 1212, 1213 
























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